presidio sentinel, september 2012

Serving the Heart of San Diego | A Publication by Presidio Communications

Volume 13, No. 8

www.PresidioSentinel.com

September | 2012

Over the last several months I have been observing via social media the work related activities of Stacey Blanchet, who is based in Pacific Beach, Calif. She is a busy lady with a lot of projects all happening simultaneously. Her primary business, Your Girl Friday, provides marketing, public relations and other management and customer-oriented services for 45 regular clients.

Reaching for the Stars and Getting Gold Local Business Woman Makes Major Stridesby Patty Ducey-Brooks

Continued on pg. 8

My Mother’s Italian... Tequila Trail Alpaca CelebrationCoronado Art Walk 14 1552

Understated Elegance

Scott & Quinn has three offices, in Mission Hills at 1111 Fort Stockton Drive, in Normal Heights at 30th and Adams Avenue, and in South Park at 2973 Beech Street. The company also features Scott & Quinn Property Management. Founded in 1982, Scott & Quinn is the oldest full service real estate firm in Mission Hills and is still locally owned and operated. Jim has been a homeowner in Mission Hills since 1976. Jim’s past Market Reports dating from 1997 are on the company web site at www.sqre.com. You can blog Jim at www.aboutjimscott.com.

Call Jim Scott, Broker, DRE #830226, 619-920-9511

Demure exterior, gorgeous interior. Understated elegance on an A+ street in North Mission Hills. Exquisite single level 3 bedroom, 3 bath 2,042 sq ft home with hardwood floors. Both the beautifully redone kitchen and the large traditional dining room open onto a fabulous private brick courtyard. The spacious master bedroom features a trav-ertine master bath with separate tub and shower. Every detail has been thought of—from the accent lighting in the crown moldings in the dining room to the kitchen design with separate work areas including dual ovens and sinks. This home exudes comfort and quiet elegance. Call Rocky Rockhill, Agent (DRE#01197738) at 619-972-3033

www.4343AltamiranoWay.com

North Mission Hills4343 Altamirano Way • $1,150,000

Stacey Blanchet at her mother’s home in Pacific Beach.

WEB EDITIONSeptember 2012

Serving the Heart of San Diego

The Presidio Sentinel is a commentary-driven newspaper that provides coverage on local, regional and national issues that impact the lives of its readers and the community it serves.

The serious issues are politics, government, redevelopment, the environment, conservation and safety. The quality of life issues include health, community activities, fundraisers, social events, religious issues and activities, theatre, arts, science and educational programs and services.

We have over 35,000 monthly readers! Highly-educated, community-and arts-oriented. Both young and mature members of society. Most enjoy entertainment and travel, fine dining, local coffee houses, book and garden clubs, and participate in church, school and neighborhood activities.

Our Mission:

Making a difference, providing the facts, the truth, and a variety of opinions so that its readers are provided up-to-date researched information.

The Presidio Sentinel strives to create dialogue, bringing topics to the forefront that need and deserve attention. Its writers, who share a variety of experiences and business backgrounds, write on topics that impact readers on a daily basis.

Contact:

General Inquiry: [email protected]: [email protected]

3


America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter

and lose our freedoms; it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

—Abraham Lincoln

Mitt Romney has repeatedly said the presidential campaign is between two visions of America.

As a candidate for president, Mr. Romney has frequently been frustratingly ambiguous, but in this he is perfectly clear: the critical choice before voters is just that, two different visions of America.

Mr. Romney’s vision, refracted through a narrower beam of light, is about wealth and white power, about privilege and entitlement; while President Obama’s vision, also refracted, but through a broader beam that reaches further, even if the bending of its light too often benefits the same people of wealth and privilege.

Mr. Romney’s America is not the America of black and brown people, of the middle class and poor, of the unemployed and under-employed, of single moms and college students facing usurious loan repayments, of the uninsured and those who work at three jobs to put bread on the table, of those pushed further and further toward society’s margins.

Which America? By George Mitrovich

his campaign’s future depends. When you run for president you

should have 1) a clear sense of one’s self; 2) a clear vision of America’s future, clearly and unambiguously stated; 3) a pledge, however great the challenge, to narrow the great wealth divide that daily undermines our democracy; 4) an understanding that however great our military might be it cannot untangle the world’s many entanglements; meaning no more Iraqs, no more Afghanistans; no more trillions of dollars spent and American blood spilled in the misguided effort to save people who despise us, 5) a commitment to rebuild our falling down infrastructure, which imperils our nation as much as any threat from abroad; 6) a moral commitment to bridge our racial divide; its 236-years on and it curses us yet; 7) a clearly stated policy to finally curb the power of Wall Street and end its destructive hold on our economy; 8) a promise to the nation’s young people there will be a place for them going forward, so that they too may experience the American dream we were privileged to share, 9) the assurance that health care will be extended to all and will be financed in part by a Social Security and Medicare means test; and 10), the signing of a new and sacred Magna Carta with the

None of this is in Mr. Romney’s resume. How could it be, given his background and pedigree as a child of privilege and wealth? He’s never had to face the economic uncertainty that shadows most of his fellow Americans.

I give Mr. Romney credit for endeavoring to connect with the rest of us, even while failing in that attempt, as the absence of empathy is a strain and struggle upon the man’s soul. He tries and tries again but each time he comes up short. He was blessed as a child at birth, blessings without number by a beneficent creator, but was denied the empathy gene (life isn’t fair, President Kennedy said).

Mr. Romney of Michigan, Massachusetts, and La Jolla, will go down in the history of U.S. presidential candidates as one of its greatest oddities. You see him, so handsome, so Central Casting good looking, a beautiful wife at his side, wonderful children and grandchildren, a business success, an inspiring leader of the Salt Lake Winter Olympics, governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a man who tells us his Mormonism runs deep, and yet despite every conceivable advantage, a man who does not appear to know his own soul.

A mystery to us, yes, but how can he remain such a mystery to himself?

In his quest to become president,

through the long slough of seemingly endless primaries, he kept turning away from positions he had once admirably held, not least his greatest achievement, medical care for the citizens of Massachusetts; something he celebrated, remember? with Ted Kennedy at his side.

Why did he do that? And why does he keep denying his own political record? Is it because his advisers persuaded him to win the nomination of the Republican Party for President of the United States he needed the votes of the most reactionary elements within his party, an element that has over the past two years turned a once great political party into a right-wing freak show; an element who’s defining moment remains the idiotic claim President Obama is not an American citizen.

In becoming the nominee of this party, and in his admirable ambition to become the 45th President, Mr. Romney will now ask us to support his candidacy by forgiving him for what he will surely suggest was nothing more than aberrational behavior during the primaries. He will tell us that is not who I am, that we should look to the whole of his life before Iowa to discover the real Mitt Romney. Between now and November 6, that will be the premise upon which

Mine Eyes Have Seen

George Mitrovich

3Remembering Chuck Fox Coronado Art WalkFirst Avenue Bar & Grill

Ghosts & Gravestones’ TourCaroline Herring

Presidio Hills Home Tour

Fashion Inspiration Harvest for Hope 2012

Continued on page 7

George Mitrovich is a San Diego civic leader and may be reached at [email protected]

Featured Stories Featured Events

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17 1513

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© A Publication of Presidio Communications | September 2012 4


Take a short, cool ride across San Diego Bay, and see the works of 113 artists from around the country during the annual Coronado Art Walk at the Coronado Ferry Landing on Saturday and Sunday, September 15 and 16. Admission is free for this family-friendly event. Musical entertainment, hands-on art activities and a free shuttle bus to other Coronado sites will be available both days from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Coronado Art Walk, now in its seventh year, is a major fundraiser for the Coronado Historical Association.

The Coronado Cultural Arts Commission is joining forces with the Coronado Historical Association to showcase Coronado’s arts energy with several very special activities at the Coronado Library, 640 Orange Avenue. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, September 15, an outdoor easel exhibit of paintings by Coronado artists, called “Artists Under the Trees” will be displayed near the Library’s Winn Room’s north entrance.

In the afternoon, at 2:30 and 2 p.m., Library Director Christian Esquevin will lead a free guided tour of the Library’s art collection, which includes Ramos Martinez murals and a Donal Hord sculpture. And from 12 to 4 p.m., on benches outside the Winn room facing 6th Avenue, Coronado authors, published and unpublished will be reading samples of their work.

Also on Saturday, inside the Library’s Winn Room, a very special exhibit of works by one of Coronado’s most beloved and prolific artists, the late Sara Rowe, will be shown. (A selection of Sara’s note cards and prints, donated by Lionel Rowe, will be sold, with all proceeds to benefit the Commission. These will also be

available during a free opening reception in the Winn Room, on Friday, September 14, from 6 to 8 p.m.)

The Coronado Ferry Landing on San Diego Bay is a picture-perfect setting for the two-day art and music celebration. The Rad Hatter and other hands-on art stations are sure to please all ages. Visitors can try their hand at weaving, painting or creating colorful cards for service persons overseas, while little ones may have their faces painted. Musical entertainment is an important facet of the outdoor event every year, and a variety of popular groups including Velvet Café, the Bayou Brothers, The Choice Entertainers and the ever-popular Bill Magee Blues Band will perform on the main stage over the two days.

The event brings artists from as far away as Connecticut, Northern California, Arizona and New Mexico who create works in a wide variety of media including jewelry, ceramics, painting and colored pencil, sculpture, photography, glass, body ornament, textiles and wood. Also on display this year will be painted gourds, table art, handmade children’s toys, pine needle basketry, shadowboxes, organic art and “floorcloths.”

The Ferry Landing provides a variety of dining opportunities with good choices available on-site for every appetite and budget. Visitors will find ample parking available but for anyone wishing to forgo their cars for the day, the San Diego/Coronado Ferry will be carrying pedestrians and bicyclists across the bay.

A free shuttle bus will take visitors from the Ferry Landing along Orange Avenue to the Coronado Library, Coronado Museum of History & Art,

Local News

Cross the Bay for Coronado Art Walk 2012 September 15 & 16

Keith Alway is one of 113 artists whose work will be featured at the 2012

Coronado Art Walk on September 15 and 16 at the Coronado Ferry Landing.

A rainbow of painted silk scarves billow in the breeze from the Big Bay during the 2011 Coronado Art Walk.

Colorful pottery and umbrellas on display during the 2011 Coronado Art Walk at the Coronado Ferry Landing.

Coronado Visitor Center, downtown shopping and dining spots, the beach and the Hotel del Coronado.

The Coronado Art Walk is presented by the Coronado Historical Association, with support from the Unified Port of San Diego and the Coronado Tourism Improvement District, and donations from many others.

For further information about this year’s big event, call the Coronado Visitor Center, (619) 437-8788 or log onto www.coronadoartwalk.org or www.coronadohistory.org.

Coronado Art Walk

Sponsored by: The Coronado Historical Association and the Unified Port of San Diego and donations from many others.

For more information: 619.435.7242www.coronadoartwalk.org • www.coronadohistory.org

FREE Admission!

Saturday & Sunday

Art Activities • Live Music

September 15 & 16

10am - 5pm at the

Coronado Ferry Landing

Over 100 Participating Artists

© A Publication of Presidio Communications | September 2012


5

The past monthº has been a real doozy, and especially difficult and daunting. I won’t go in to all the specifics of why I share this observation. I will state that the most serious challenge of the

month was when I learned that Chuck Fox, my ex-business partner who had also been the executive editor of the Presidio Sentinel upward of nine years, had died. Chuck, who was also a long-standing resident of Mission Hills, had been very involved in the community.

When I first met him, over thirteen years ago, it was at a church function at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Mission Hills. I was representing the music liturgy committee for the church at an open house. Chuck and his wife, Sheila, were attending the event. I had already known Sheila because we both shared business connections with the public relations and advertising industry. This was my first encounter with Chuck. Shortly after this brief meeting we agreed to meet over coffee to discuss my new role as publisher of the Mission Hills News. It was during this discussion that

Chuck agreed to become the executive editor of the publication. That was the beginning of our friendship and business relationship.

Those of us who knew Chuck, remember him as a big guy with a strong and memorable voice. Being that he was a DJ, “The Fox that Rocks,” Chuck had an amazing speaking voice and was great at delivery. We produced lots of events which allowed Chuck the opportunity to demonstrate his talent and skills as a presenter and leader. The list of events we produced includes, Old Town San Diego Fiesta Cinco de Mayo Celebration, Chula Vista Harbor Days, First Night San Diego, Mission Hills & All That Jazz and Mission Hills Concerts in the Park.

As I look back, I have been reviewing the early issues of the newspaper. Our first issue was April/May 2000. It was called the Mission Hills News Enterprise. It was a friendly community newspaper that was very local, with writers and content primarily from and about Mission Hills.

Then in May 2001, after serious strategic planning and review, we changed the name to the Presidio Sentinel, increasing the circulation

Local News

A Trip Down Memory Lane Fondly Remembering My Friend Chuck Fox

Chuck Fox

By Patty Ducey-Brooks

and reach of the publication. We went from a distribution of 5,000 to 15,500. That’s a significant jump.

In order to accommodate this jump and still run a lean operation, Chuck and I wore lots of hats, including sales, marketing, editorial and distribution, which meant wrapping and throwing the newspaper. I have vivid memories of running next to Chuck’s Jeep to make sure the newspaper was properly positioned on each property. Chuck thought I was a little eccentric. I thought I was demonstrating quality control.

Reality is, Chuck and I spent a lot of time together and I got to know him well. I still have file cabinets and computer files filled with projects and activities we did together, including producing a video for my Dad’s 80th birthday celebration. It is precious.

My Dad will be celebrating his 90th

birthday this coming October. I intend to replay that video at this important event. And, I will be reminded that my friend and business partner, Chuck, is solely missed.

Then I ask myself, how do you say goodbye to someone who is bigger than life and has a humongous heart? You don’t. Instead, you ask, how do I keep his legacy alive?



B e t w e e n t h e L i n e s : Z o e m e a n s “ l i f e ” i n G r e e k

Staying On Track

that encourages writers to draft a 50,000-word novel in one month. The finished work of 350,000 words now awaits publication. Her third novel, “The Basement,” is a sequel to “Sky of Red Poppies.” And there’s more where those came from. “I have so many stories to tell,” Zoe says.

In addition to her full-time writing, Zoe is a visual artist; the cover of “Sky of Red Poppies” is a detail from one of her paintings. She’s a gardener too, a fact which was evident to me on reading her book. All Iranians are gardeners and poets, she tells me. Yes, she writes poetry too, mostly in Persian.

“One Book, One San Diego” is a partnership between KPBS and the San Diego Public Library, now in its sixth year. Its mission is to bring San Diegans together through enriching and relevant literary experience. As a literary ambassador, Zoe speaks frequently at libraries and book clubs, and at schools, where she teaches children to paint poppies and then to write about them.

Zoe’s energy and driving force appear both joyous and boundless. She’s eager to give back to the community as a way of acknowledging what the community has given her. “Life is like a wave,” she says; “a wave that comes in needs to go back out so that more waves can come in.” And it all fits, because as she likes to point out, Zoe means “life” in Greek.

“Only in America,” is one of the first things Zoe Ghahremani says to me about the success of her first novel, “Sky of Red

Poppies,” when we meet at Bread & Cie. Later she qualifies it to “Only in San Diego,” praising the local writing community that encouraged and promoted her efforts. Through a series of serendipitous meetings and occurrences, the independently-published “Sky of Red Poppies” became one of this year’s three selections for “One Book, One San Diego,” catapulting Zoe into prominence.

Born in Iran and named Zohreh—Persian for Venus, the morning star—she adopted the simplified “Zoe” when she came to this country. “I was a writer before I could write,” she says, recalling that as a child she would tell stories that others would inscribe for her, but her family discouraged her interest in literature and pushed her toward science. She became a pediatric dentist, and had a successful practice in Evanston, Illinois while also teaching at Northwestern University Dental School for twenty-five years. In 2000 she declared that it was time to pursue two of her biggest dreams: she moved to San Diego and devoted herself to writing.

“Sky of Red Poppies” is about two girls, Roya and Shireen, who meet at school during the political hotbed of 1960’s Iran. They share a love for the poppies on a greenhouse roof—“the frame for a magic garden”—that volunteer up after the spring rains and are visible from a stairwell at their school, and for a Persian poem with the line, “I scatter on your path one sky of red poppies.” Zoe acknowledges that Roya’s story is partly her own and that the character of Shireen is real.

Zoe recently completed her second novel, “The Moon Daughter,” a story told from the point of view of a woman in Iran, giving birth to her third daughter, and then that of the daughter, an adult living in the U.S. The book came into being during “NaNoWriMo,” National November Writing Month, sponsored locally by San Diego Writers, Ink, a program

Local News

right before you even begin to believe. Some well known sites are FactCheck.org and PolitiFact.com for a start.

Now to be truthful myself, there are some who feel even these sites may have some bias, but at least they are somewhat more accurate than much of what we hear from ads on TV and interviews with candidates. In the next few months we will be inundated with “facts.” Paul Ryan is ending Medicare and taxing the poor. Barack Obama is turning us to a socialist state. Mitt Romney hides his money in tax shelters. And Joe Biden, well he’s Joe Biden.

I am not pointing fingers at any party; I am pointing my finger at where we have landed in our election process. It is not only national elections; it is state and local as well. A recent exchange between our candidates for mayor right here in America’s Finest City, left me speechless. Two men were debating like kids in a kindergarten playground staking out their turf for kickball. I want and expect more from my elected or running politicians. I want civility, truth and a mindful, respectable dialogue. I want to make up my mind based on the policies they believe in and will fight for.

I do not care if they smoked a joint in college or dated someone of another race. I just don’t care. I care about what my life will be like, what my fellow citizens can expect, and what direction my country will go in. The first time I got to vote was when JFK ran. I did not care if he was Catholic or a womanizer. In that, my first election, I only wanted to know what each candidate was going to do. I was 21 and I wanted the truth. I still do. Ilene can be reached at [email protected]

There’s no avoiding it unless you stop reading or watching the news. The election is on its way and with the announcement of Paul Ryan there

is now a new person to rip apart. From dogs riding on the roof of a car to fear of a Kenyan president with a “fake” American birth certificate, the issues are no longer political but instead quite personal. The partisanship of the elections has taken a wrong turn.

I understand there are important differences in the philosophies of our two main parties, and I value those differences, it’s what makes us a true democracy. But when the ads turn from informative to nasty, something is wrong, actually not only wrong, but inaccurate. I have been receiving emails lately, from friends and acquaintances that are just blatantly untrue.

I find myself incensed over the lack of research intelligent people do before passing judgment on these so called facts. I even find myself shooting off nasty responses to people I like and admire when I get these communications. I feel a little remorse after I hit send, but I can’t seem to help myself.

The thing is, I have always been a seeker of truth, and have looked for ways I can find that truth before I expound on my views. There are bi-partisan web sites that fact check without leaning toward one party or another. The quandary is, how do we separate rhetoric from fact, how do we trust pundits to be accurate and most importantly do we realize that politicians are often saying what they say to be elected. It does not hurt to visit these web sites and get a better sense of facts

Zoe Ghahremani is an author, artist and gardener.

By Alice LoweBy Ilene Hubbs



7

Bentley shares the unique power pets have to lift spirits.

Brown Alpaca

National Alpaca Farm Days

World ’s Tal lest Therapy Dog Vis its Pat ients

weed invasion is encouraged.Alpacas prefer to eat tender grasses,

which they do not pull up by the roots. Lacking upper teeth, alpacas cut the grass with their bottom teeth and upper palate. This vegetation cutting encourages the plants’ growth.

While alpacas are environmentally friendly, and even beneficial to the land, what makes them even more “green” is the fiber they produce. No chemicals are employed either during feeding or during the industrial production of alpaca fleece into fiber. If dying is desired, only 20 percent of a normal dye quantity is required.

Alpacas require no insecticides, herbicides or fertilizers that pollute the groundwater.

To learn more about the alpaca industry, visit www.AlpacaInfo.com. To find out more about National Alpaca Farm Days visit www.NationalAlpacaFarmDays.com.

Bentley stands over 4 feet tall when standing on all fours – and standing on two feet, he is taller than most people. In April, the Guinness Book of World Records named Bentley as the dog with the longest tail – 26 inches in length.

Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association (AOBA) invites you to visit their member farms and ranches on National Alpaca Farm Days on September 29th and 30th. This is a unique opportunity for the public to explore the many aspects of the alpaca livestock industry in the United States and Canada.

From meeting these beautiful, inquisitive animals in person to experiencing luxurious alpaca products at individual farm stores, there will truly be something for everyone.

Visitors can also learn how alpacas are a green business opportunity, as they are animals that are sensitive to their environment in every respect!

While most alpaca farms welcome visitors throughout the year, National Alpaca Farm Days are sure to include special activities and educational opportunities.

For a complete list of participating farms and ranches, visit www.NationalAlpacaFarmDays.com.

Alpacas, cousins to the llama, are beautiful, intelligent animals native to the Andean Mountain range of South America, particularly Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. The United States first commercially imported alpacas in 1984. There are now more than 180,000 ARI (Alpaca Registry, Inc.) registered alpacas in North America.

Sensitive to their environment in every respect, alpacas have soft padded feet instead of hooves and can leave even the most delicate terrain undamaged. Damage to topsoil decreases long-term soil fertility and in the process, the soil is eroded and

Bentley, an “extra large” Great Dane in the running to be certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s tallest dog and the World’s Tallest Service Dog, visited patients and posed for photos at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla this past month.

Animal News

Not to be combined with any other offer. Not good for boarding, bathing, grooming, pet food and prescription and non-prescription

drugs. Expires 9-30-2012

Maylee Simone is an eight-year old, Norwegian Forest Cat with Tabby coloring. She has an enormous heart and can’t wait to find a special family with whom she can share it. With her abundance of beauty, and charming “purr-sonality,” this special kitty is certain to make the perfect feline companion.

Entertaining and fun-loving, Dodger is a five year-old, Domestic Shorthair mix with cream Tabby coloring. His playful antics can brighten even the gloomiest of days. And those big beautiful eyes are sure to melt your heart. Dodger can’t wait to find a special home where he will be a cherished member of the family.

During our Pick Your Purrfect Price promotion, You can determine any adoption fee for the cats and kittens available for adoption at each of our campuses. The adoption fee includes spay/neuter, current vaccinations, permanent microchip identification, and a certificate for a free veterinary exam.

Dodger is located at the North Campus of the San Diego

Humane Society, located at 572 Airport Road in Oceanside. For

information, call (760) 757-4357.

Maylee is available at the San Diego Humane Society and SPCA Gaines St. Campus, located at 5500 Gaines Street in San Diego. For information, call (619) 299-7012.

SPCA



By Sabine Starr Certified Life Coach

Whether you like reading or watching biographies or not, it´s very likely that there are people in your life who inspire you by the

way they are going through life, make choices and handle situations. It is of tremendous value to us to think about the people we admire. It’s easier to stick with famous people, since we can read up on them and understand better how to lead such an inspiring life. At the same time, we learn valuable information about ourselves. Whenever we are fascinated with someone, something that we have inside ourselves resonates. We can isolate that virtue and then go about assessing its prevalence in our own life. Then we can go about increasing it through concrete plans and action steps and thus incorporating it in our very own personal way. For example, if you admire Mother Teresa, the virtue might be caring for others, unconditional love, or a clear vision followed through. Where do these things show up in your own life? It does not mean you would need to strive to do the same things as her, but rather incorporating the same

of herself as a particularly caring person with love to give.

This month, keep in mind to ask yourself who it is that you truly admire and why. Then check when and where the answers to the “Why?” are part of your own life. Find one or two simple things that you can incorporate in your life and that make you feel good when you envision having done so. Enjoy. More on this and similar topics at: www.HealthWithTaste.blogspot.com.

Biographies: Famous or not, are of high personal benefitqualities and principles. Unconditional love can be shown towards pets or even plants, as well as people in need. Caring can be expressed by cooking healthy meals for your family or providing through holding down a job that is not necessarily your dream, but pays well enough.

Studies show that we tend to think everyone thinks and resonates with things very much the same. In this case we might think because we admire someone, most people admire that person for the same reasons. That is not the case. Admiration goes beyond recognizing that someone is famous for various reasons. It touches something within ourselves, a desire, a talent, a personal dream.

I often encourage my clients to make a list of five to ten people they admire the most and list the top three attributes they admire about each of them. This attribute list is a great inventory of our own priorities in life; the things that truly matter to us become visible and can be acknowledged and expanded. That step increases happiness and fulfillment significantly. Often very little steps can change us from lethargic-

depressed to inspired, meaningful and connected. In the example from above, a client had Mother Teresa in her Top 5 List. The client resolved to volunteer at an animal shelter one hour a week (like most of us, she had a very busy life). She soon came to sessions happy and with a newly found feeling of making a difference in this world. Her overall life quality improved, and her tendency to feel depressed disappeared. The point is, without stopping to think about whom she admires and why, she did not think

YOU KNOW YOU’RE FROM MISSION HILLS WHEN…

• The 4th of July is not when you leave town on vacation—you stay in town because you don’t want to miss the parade, concert and awesome celebration that the Mission Hills Town Council throws in Pioneer Park!

• You have learned to drive from Redwood and Horton to Arcadia without falling into a canyon.

• The after-school-snack portion of your day is held on the corner of West Lewis and Stephens, known by the adult community as the Mission Hills Wine Cellar and Liquor Store, but by the kids as Sam and Linda’s ice cream, candy, sandwich, and snack shop.

• You know that “Little Pink Day” is when the toddlers show up in their pink leotards and tutu’s at the ballet studio to perfect their pliés and finesse first position.

• You look forward to the Community Garage Sale twice a year and get up bright and early to trade treasures with your neighbors and the crowds of buyers who show up in the neighborhood.

• The Garden Club has put one of their coveted “Award” signs in your front lawn, recognizing your struggle with the critters and slothful urges, and highlighting the importance of regular guidance from the Mission Hills Nursery.

• At first, the planes leaving Lindbergh Field seem to fly over your house, until you have been here for 3 days then you don’t even notice them.

• You pity the freeway denizens as you slip cross town on easy surface streets to the airport, Downtown, Mission and Fashion Valleys, Petco Park, the Opera, the Theatre, the Zoo, Balboa Park Museums, and dozens of restaurants and cafes in a multitude of nearby “villages”.

• Most of your neighbors are people who make a difference in our city and certainly make a lot of the pages of our San Diego history.

• You go to the Red Door for their Cobb Salad, Lefty’s for Pizza, Olivetto’s for the wine, The Gathering for the food and magic, and Brooklyn Girl to see and be seen.

619-800-1103 | www.MissionHillsColdwellBanker.com

Maureen & Antoinette

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage1621 W. Lewis Street, San Diego, CA 92103

CA DRE License # 01217712 and # 01305747

maureen

antoinette

Life Style

Eat Like an Olympian

(such as fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains such as quinoa, steel cut oats, potatoes, brown rice, and 100 percent whole wheat pasta and breads), athletes also know to include quality protein sources such as lean beef, poultry, eggs, beans and fish as well as a smaller amount of “good” fats such as olive oil, nuts, seeds and fatty fish.

4. Rehydrate but limit liquid calories. Athletes drink plenty of water to keep hydrated through the day, and so should you. Sports drinks have been marketed as the elite athletes “secret weapon” for peak performance, however in reality this is not the case. Athletes know that sports drinks were designed to be consumed during training or during the event - not to drink all day long. Water is still the best for rehydration (for most of us) unless we are competing in long distance endurance events.

5. Eat those carbs. Athletes look at what they put into their bodies as essential fuel to perform. Carbohydrate is the muscle’s primary form of energy so the athlete’s plate will most often consist of foods that are packed with carbohydrates (as well as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals) to maximize performance.

6. Eat healthy fats and limit fried foods. Fried foods are not only high in calories, but often contain “bad” fats. Athletes typically limit their intake of fried foods and instead compliment their meals and snacks with more healthful plant based sources of fats such as nuts, avocados, olive oil, canola oil, and fatty fish.Fitness Together Mission Hills

offers personal training with qualified professionals by regular appointment in private suites. Exercise and nutritional programs are custom designed to fit your needs and abilities.

Call 619-794-0014 for more information or to schedule a free assessment session.

By Blake BeckcomWe can all take inspiration from the

remarkable athletes and Team USA accomplishments witnessed in the London Olympics. All athletes, not only train their bodies and their minds to perfection, they also know that their nutrition plays a key role in the overall program recipe of a champion. Eating a healthy diet sufficient in nutrients and with enough calories to fuel competition and training is an important component of all athlete’s training plans and just may be the deciding factor in that tenth of a second that distinguished gold from silver. Training and competing in the Olympics involves an immense amount of hard work, dedication and perseverance most of us can not fathom. What you can do is to tap into the post Olympic energy swirling around the world as we close out on summer, and see if you can incorporate some or all of the six nutrition tips below and you will eating like an Olympian. 1. Eat breakfast and wake up a

winner. Mom was right; breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Athletes know that they must fuel their workouts with nutritious foods or they will not be able to train and compete to the best of their ability. Ideally it is best to “break the fast” with a whole grain (oatmeal wins the gold for heart health), mixed with a calcium and protein-rich liquid (such as fat-free milk or soy milk) and topped with vitamin and antioxidant-rich fresh fruit (such as blueberries).

2. Eat at home more often. Athletes must ensure that what they put in their mouths is top quality food that has the highest nutrient to calorie ratio. This means that athletes minimize the amount of “empty” calories they consume by limiting refined sugars, flours, and “bad” fats. When we eat out, we are served gargantuan portion sizes packed with too much sodium, saturated fat, trans fat, sugar and refined carbs. Cooking at home more often will allow you to control what goes in your mouth. Start with fresh, unprocessed food and flavor your meals with more healthful alternatives.

3. Eat small frequent meals for endurance. Another principle athletes embrace is to eat small, frequent meals. Begin fueling your body early with a quality breakfast and then continue to fuel throughout the day with healthy meals consisting of low-fat dairy, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and “good” fats. Eating lots of healthful mini-meals keeps energy levels up and powers the body over a 12 hour time span. Although the main nutrient in an athlete’s diet is healthy carbohydrates

Blake & Gwen Beckcom.



9

I had originally planned to continue writing about Municipal Bonds, but a question I was asked recently really got me thinking: with all of the scandals and problems that have come to light, can we

really trust our financial future to Wall Street brokers and bankers.

In case you hadn’t heard, HSBC and several other very large banks have been accused of falsifying their reporting of LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) a measure of the interest rates at which banks expect to be able to borrow money from each other, and thus a good gauge for trust and liquidity within capital markets. LIBOR is also the interest rate underlying literally hundreds of trillions of dollars’ worth of financial instruments, including most adjustable rate mortgages here in the United States.

This comes on top of accusations that several large banks have been helping drug dealers and rouge nations like Iran launder hundreds of billions of dollars through the financial system. Not to mention the Bernie Madoff scandal, the mortgage meltdown and the near collapse of our financial system caused in no small part by the excesses of our nation’s largest financial institutions. No wonder people are asking if they can really trust capital markets!

First, forget about Wall Street and ask yourself if you believe in Capitalism. In its purest form, the function of our financial system is to connect those who have money (investors) and those who need money (businesses). This is the beating heart of our capitalist system. This is the most basic role of an investment bank.

Unfortunately, while that’s a fairly profitable business, this is really only a small part of these banks’ revenue streams today. Actually, quite a bit of money is made simply by acting as the middleman (broker) between investors making bets on the price

movements of different securities. At the same time, people like us

who are trying to ‘trade’ securities against these organizations are at a huge disadvantage in terms of information and resources. Furthermore, the markets tend to be pretty efficient. Even those who do uncover some nugget of actionable information that nobody else has will not have long to profit from it. The more times you try to do it, the more likely you are to lose to the insiders with better information and better access.

In that regard, investing is somewhat like tennis. Professional tennis is a winners’ game. The pros rarely make mistakes, and often win by scoring points like by acing a serve or driving the ball to the one spot their opponent can’t reach. My tennis is more of a loser’s game: the harder I push myself, the more mistakes I will make, like hitting the net or hitting out of bounds, thus allowing my opponent to win. By taking it easy, I will make fewer mistakes than my opponent and probably win the game.

For most of us, investing is a lot like my tennis game. We maximize our earnings by making fewer mistakes. The more times we trade, the higher our costs will be and the more opportunities there are to make a mistake and lose money. The more times we react emotionally, the more likely we are to make poor investment decisions and even bigger mistakes.

So what’s the best way to profit from our capitalist system, no matter what Wall Street traders do to each other? By setting up a disciplined long-term investment plan with an advisor who is on your side – that is, paid by you, not by the fund or insurance companies whose products he’s selling you – and sticking to it is your best chance to win the losers game and invest your savings for the long run. Keep your costs low and your trades few. And a Certified Financial Planner ® professional is a great place to start.

Capital Markets TodayBusiness News

Senior Ramblings By C. David Kulman

Due to health reasons, C. David Kulman

will return with the October issue.

This column is prepared by Rick Brooks, CFA, CFP®. Rick is Vice President for Investment

Management with Blankinship & Foster, LLC, a wealth advisory firm specializing in

comprehensive financial planning and investment management. Rick can be reached at

(858) 755-5166, or by email at [email protected]. Rick and his family live in Mission Hills.

By Rick Brooks

CraigGFrancis.com

America?Continued from page 1

People of America, one that affirms in word and deed we’re in this together and together we shall prevail!

While Mr. Obama has erred often in his presidency and has disappointed many, especially those who formed his most enthusiastic supporters in 2008, Mr. Romney has not come close to representing or understanding the 10 essential question raised above.

While doubts about Mr. Romney by national media has been a constant in his campaign, save for Fox News and right-wing talk radio, they escalated with his choice of Congressman Paul Ryan as his vice-presidential running mate.

Did Mr. Romney understand in selecting Mr. Ryan he selected a disciple of Ayn Rand, the Queen of Me and God Despiser.

When the Romney campaign vetted Mr. Ryan, did they overlook his devotion to Ms. Rand? Did they miss he’s an Ayn Rand acolyte? And if they did, then by what right do either they or the candidate they represent considered themselves worthy to be trusted with the highest office within the gift of the American People to bestow?

Paul Ryan’s connection to Ms. Rand is compounded by his own confessed Christian faith, because her “philosophy” is the antithesis of the life of Jesus and his teachings.

The resurrection of Ayn Rand’s wealth glorification philosophy, one embraced by Alan Greenspan as head of the Fed, when his supreme reign over monetary policies resulted in the greatest wealth divide in our history, may have been key to Paul Ryan’s believing the woman worthy of his devotion, but

surely now he must see you cannot be the Tea Partiers champion while consorting with a God denier.

But while Mr. Greenspan escaped political and media criticism, even in the near death experience of the nation’s economy, in no small measure because he’s the husband of NBC’s Andrea Mitchell (the culture of Washington is a self-protecting culture), Mr. Ryan will not fare so well.

Intense media focus has arisen about Mr. Ryan and Ms. Rand, with Maureen Dowd of The New York Times writing that when the Wisconsin congressman realized worshipping an atheist was bad politics he began worshiping St. Thomas Aquinas.

Let’s be very clear: You cannot be a follower of Ayn Rand and a follower of Jesus Christ.

Or, as a group of Jesuits wrote to Mr. Ryan, “Your budget appears to reflect your favorite philosopher, Ayn Rand, rather than the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

You may recant of having youthful intoxication with the Queen of Me, of somehow confusing her message of greed with Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, but it’s fair to ask when did his devotion to the first begin and his devotion to the second end?

In choosing Mr. Ryan as his running mate, Mr. Romney has given Democrats a gift that rivals John McCain’s of 2008 in choosing Sarah Palin.

Barack Obama will win going away.

George Mitrovich is a San Diego civic leader.

He can be reached at, [email protected].



Business News

Union Bank Homework Center Under Construction S an D i e go ’ s N ew C e nt ra l L i b ra r y A d d i t i o n

Union Bank, N.A., recently celebrated a milestone with the San Diego Public Library Foundation -- the half-way completion of the Union Bank Homework Center, a full-service homework center under construction on the second floor of San Diego’s new Central Library. Approximately one year ago, Union Bank signed a commitment to support construction of the new library, scheduled to open in the summer of 2013.

“We’re delighted to see the progress of the entire library and especially the Union Bank Homework Center,” says Union Bank Senior Vice President and Regional Executive Lawrence Henry. “At Union Bank, we are committed to responsible banking, which includes supporting education and financial literacy in our local communities, so supporting the new Central Library and especially the Homework Center is a natural extension of our efforts -- it’s gratifying to be a part of this tremendous asset to San Diego.”

Built in the heart of downtown

San Diego, the nine-story library will be a regional center for learning and literacy, featuring a cutting-edge technology center, vibrant community gathering spaces, a museum-quality art gallery, performance auditorium and expanded access to books, information and digital resources.

The Union Bank Homework Center’s resources will promote student success with test preparation books, reference materials, computer workstations and access to quality, online databases. The Center will offer after-school tutoring and a volunteer program will help students with their homework and project needs. Located near the Library’s Teen Center, the Homework Center promises to be one of the most popular areas of the new Library. The Center caters to students at the charter high school located in the Library building, as well as students attending the more than 60 schools located within two and a half miles of the new Central Library.

Union Bank Senior Vice President and Regional Executive Lawrence Henry and Senior Vice President and Regional Manager Marla Black pause at the entrance of the soon-to-be Union Bank Homework Center during a recent tour of the new Central Library.

Continued from cover page

Blanchet is also a clothing designer and has recently secured some very exciting projects. When I met with her this past month she had just returned from a trip to Los Angeles to purchase fabric for two dresses she has designed and is creating for hostesses of the upcoming Emmy Awards, scheduled for September 23, 2012. She also learned that she will be providing dresses for the Academy Awards and GRAMMY Awards. It is almost daily that there is another opportunity and accomplishment related to her interests and efforts.

Blanchet is the creative designer for Blanchet Designs, and Janaki Ravinutala is the head seamstress on the team. Blanchet refers to their fashion line as timeless and classic with a contemporary edge for the woman who isn’t afraid to be expressive.

Because of her fashion adventures and accomplishments, in May of 2011 Blanchet was invited to participate in a documentary project, allowing videographers full access to a year in the life of Blanchet Designs, detailing all the many projects she had upcoming. She agreed, allowing the camera to follow her and capture all the projects and fashion shows of 2011.

What the documentary team quickly realized is that Blanchet’s life was intriguing. They also became aware of a short non-fiction story she wrote and had published. It detailed her life story from childhood, which explains the hardships and challenges she experienced, and her desire to overcome her fears and disappointments. After learning more about Stacey Blanchet, they asked to change the focus of the documentary and capture more about the person behind Blanchet Designs.

The documentary, “The Journey to Myself,” was completed in June of 2012 and has been submitted to seven United States’ film festivals. Blanchet learned in late August 2012 that the documentary has earned an Official Festival Selection and is now in the running for one of the Festival’s top awards in its category. The winning selections in each category will be announced on stage during the Festival Awards Ceremony on Saturday, October 6, 2012 at the Palms Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

Obviously, Blanchet is extremely excited about the success of this documentary, at the same time, she is a little nervous about sharing her life experiences, especially the sexual abuse by an uncle that she had to deal with as a child. That was one of the experiences that both scarred and challenged her. In the documentary, she shares the journey to heal and how she has learned to deal with the hurt and loss.

Blanchet and I had a lengthy conversation about all that is currently happening in her life and what’s in the stars for the future. She told me that knows that she is a “wings not a roots’ person,” and plans to be a “work in progress” until the day she dies. However, whatever she “dares to accomplish,” she also knows that it will be done with discipline and focus, and a plan.

With that final thought, I plan to keep an eye on Stacey Blanchet because I know that her journey has really just begun. And, I don’t want to miss her roller coaster ride. If you’re interested in learning more about Stacey Blanchet, her book, videos and fashion designs, visit blanchetdesigns.com.

Stars and Gold

Public Workshop on Old Town Community Plan Update Scheduled

City seeks public input on the long-term vision

for the community

Monday, September 17, 2012 4:00-8:00 p.m.

Harold J. Ballard Parent Center - Auditorium

2375 Congress Street, San Diego, CA 92110

The community plan will provide a long-term

vision for the community.

For more information, visit http://www.sandiego.gov/planning/community/cpu/oldtownmidway/



11

CALLING ALL BUYERS & INVESTORS! Here’s a golden opportunity

For more information, please call:

Barbara Strona CRS, GRI, SRES, RMS DRE # 00872337

[email protected] www.strona.com

(619) 203-1200 (619) 203-1200

1111 B Fort Stockton Drive San Diego, California 92103

AFFORDABLE DOWNTOWN LIVING

You can own a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo with full-sized side-by-side washer and dryer, two secured underground side-by-side parking spaces, and a manageable home-owner’s fee. The versatile floor plan opens onto an interior courtyard. A roof-top viewing deck with a hot tub is a perfect venue for watching fireworks.

Just across Date Street is a charming park. One block to the east is 6th Avenue and the bridge to Balboa Park.

My goal is to help you find the right solution for you!

Lifestyles

supports the market as it grows into a thriving business.

The bistro serves locally and organically raised meat and chickens in a variety of dishes including lamb, chicken, and beef sliders. When asked what his favorite item was on the current menu, Brooks replied, “Beet and goat cheese salad.” Another treat on the menu is fried pickle.

Brooks and his staff love making pickles. “In fact,” Brooks says one of his bartenders specializes in it “and has been happy to help us perfect the craft.” Because the best pickles are fermented, they must be pesticide free. Brooks shared his basic recipe:

Pack quart mason jars with slices or spears of organically grown cucumbers. Fill each jar one quarter full of rice wine vinegar (or any other vinegar you like. He favors rice.) Add fresh dill and a half teaspoon each mustard seed and pepper corns. Slice a garlic clove in half and add the two pieces to the jar with three or four thin slices of red onion. Next add two tablespoons of local kosher sea salt. (Point Loma “out filters” salt water to make local sea salt.) Let the jar sit out for three or four days. These pickles will keep refrigerated for several months.

Brooks explained that all foods SOL provides are “Fair Trade.” This means production is closely supervised to ensure that workers, produce, livestock are treated well and that the workplace is properly run and cared for. We learned that SOL’s freshly laid eggs come from Fair Trade Certified Ebenhaezer Farms, one of the few pastured egg operations in San Diego County. One unusual feature of this ranch is keeping the hens in mobile chicken houses. A huge trailer is divided into a section

of nesting boxes and bleachers for roosting leaving the rest of the trailer accessible to the pasture where the trailer stays for a few days. Busy chickens are happy chickens. Chasing and eating bugs, scratching for seeds, and taking dust baths in the sun, they remain safe from predators in these large enclosures. Every few days, this hen house travels to another section of pasture allowing, the chickens to fertilize new pasture while ridding it of pests -- a very efficient system!

Other store items come from Stone Brewery. The brewery bought La Milpa, a bankrupt educational farm. Renamed Stone Farms, all their produce is naturally grown. Due to the cost of “Fair Trade” certification, it is not labeled organic. Nonetheless, Brooks insists their practices are organic.

SOL Markets serves twelve San Diego-brewed beers plus locally produced organic wines. They also sell organic and biodynamic wines from around the world. One local wine from Temecula, Berenda Road, tastes like a $35.00 bottle of wine. It sells for about $12.00, “a steal for even the most modest wine drinkers,” Brooks claims. SOL also runs $5.00 specials on this wine as well as others.

As the market grows, more and more items appear. Eventually the market will have a butcher shop; Brooks is working on getting aged grass-fed beef. Meanwhile, items that are either unavailable locally or are unsuitable come from elsewhere. Dairy products come from Northern California since our local farms do not meet SOL standards. Coffee, vanilla, chocolate and other items that do not grow locally arrive from all over the world; however, they are all grown organically

and certified Fair Trade. Often even when an item arrives from afar, it is often processed locally. Coffee, for instance, is frequently roasted here although it came from overseas.

The market is evolving. Originally they were going to have cooking classes, but they soon “outgrew the kitchen.” Brooks hopes to resume cooking classes in the fall. Meanwhile, the staff is re-organizing and reconfiguring their current space, adding more and more local products to the shelves. Eventually Brown hopes to open a second market uptown. SOL Markets is in the north section of Liberty Station between Corvette Diner and Point Loma Outfitters. Watch it grow while you enjoy its merchandise.

September 26’s meeting will showcase Mike Mathews from The Audubon Society speaking on “Avian Angels and Devils in your Garden.” Meetings are at 4070 Jackdaw from 6 to 8 p.m. Guests pay $10.00; members are free.

It’s membership renewal time. Single membership is $35.00 a year; $50.00 for a couple. See you September 26.

Seasonal Organic Local (SOL) MarketsBy Barb Strona

On July 25 Mission Hills Garden Club held a very different meeting. Originally Vince Brown, an attorney who is fervent in his belief that we must eat organically

and locally grown foods available in season, was scheduled to speak. He owns SOL Markets which models his beliefs about food. When a last minute emergency made Brown unavailable, he sent his right-hand-man, general manager and former chef, Brandon Brooks, to speak in his stead.

With years of experience in the hospitality business plus a passion for growing food, raising 13 hens and also four ducks, Brooks is general manager of SOL Bistro & Market in Liberty Station. Founded in the belief that consumption of seasonal, local, and organic foods helps our environment as well as our local economy, these foods are better for our bodies, plus they taste better, too. For example, commercially grown tomatoes are picked green, transported from afar, only to be gassed in order to “ripen” them to red resulting in loss not only of flavor but of nutrients too. Transporting foods causes pollution as do pesticides. Hormones and antibiotics given to commercially raised livestock wreak havoc on our bodies.

Fueled by the same passion that Brown has, Brooks has helped build SOL from its beginning. As San Diego’s first market of its kind, it is a work in progress. We learned that Brown subsidized his dream by turning part of the building, an old firehouse, into a restaurant where lunch and dinner are served seven days a week from 11 a.m. on. It is a “farm to table” restaurant bringing in an income which

Local and organic food are available at SOL Bistro & Market in Liberty Station.

SOLD

T H E M A R K E T S E E M S T O B E H E A T I N G U P .T H E W I N D O W O F O P P O R T U N I T Y M A Y B E C L O S I N G .

N O W ’ S T H E T I M E T O T A K E A D V A N T A G E

F O R A R E A L E S T A T E A G E N T W I T H Y O U R B E S T I N T E R E S T S

A T H E A R T





(619) 203-1200 (619) 203-1200










(619) 203-1200 (619) 203-1200








School News

Place-Mate winners are pictured with Jack Kosakowski, CEO of Junior Achievement USA. Left to right are Andrew Young, Jaclyn

Powell, Trevor Minear, Josh Knopman and Andre Hoss.

Dr. Zaheer shares a book, donated by United Way of San Diego County with Geovanny and Hilda Balderas at the Mid-City Community Clinic in City Heights.

San Diego Students Win at Junior Achievement USA’s Company of the Year Competition

United Way of San Diego County Donates Books Children at Mid-City Community Clinic Benefit From Donation

Last month, at Washington, D.C.’s George Washington University, Junior Achievement USA® (JA) celebrated teen entrepreneurs who own and operate companies created through the JA Company Program®. Both of the Junior Achievement of San Diego and Imperial Counties’ companies went for the win—Cast-A-Waste took home the second place while Place~Mate won the Best Financial Performance Award.

The annual North American JA Company of the Year Competition is a contest of business skills, ingenuity and innovation that focused on the accomplishments of U.S. JA Company Program students, ages 15-19, during the 2011-2012 academic year. Currently reaching nearly 400,000

Pediatricians and nurses at San Diego Family Care’s Mid-City Community Clinic are sending families home from checkups with free books and a very important prescription – read aloud to your children. From United Way of San Diego County’s Day of Action and book drive earlier this summer, 100 books were brought to the health center by volunteers from California College San Diego, supporting pediatricians’ early literacy efforts.

“Research shows that if you intervene in the first five years of life and partner with parents, you can dramatically improve the early literacy skills of a child, putting them on the track for success in school and in life,” said Reach Out and Read Chief Executive Officer Earl Martin Phalen.

Doctors, nurse practitioners and other medical professionals incorporate Reach Out and Read’s evidence-

young people a year globally, JA Company Program gives teens the skills to start and run their own businesses under the mentorship of a local business volunteer.

Place~Mate from Westview High School—who creates laminated place mats that help preschoolers learn shapes, letters and numbers—won the Best Financial Performance Award presented by NYSE Euronext Foundation. The award is given to the student team which performs best against a high level of set criteria including profitability, stockholder expectations, employee earnings, product quality, leadership and operational efficiency.

based model into regular pediatric checkups by advising parents about the importance of reading aloud and giving developmentally-appropriate books to children.

Through Reach Out and Read, each child begins kindergarten with a home library of up to 10 books and a parent who has heard at every health supervision visit about the importance of books and reading. The program begins at the six-month-old checkup and continues through age five with a special emphasis on children from low-income communities.

United Way of San Diego County donated 900 books to pediatric clinics throughout San Diego participating in Reach Out and Read in an effort to encourage volunteerism and support community organizations focused on education. For more information, visit www.reachoutandread.org.



13Local News

This past August residents and government officials came out to celebrate the newly completed Mission Hills’ mini park, located at 792 West Lewis Street. Mission Hills’ residents and members of the Mission Hills Town Council (MHTC) were on hand to share their pleasure for the park’s completion. MHTC President

Saturday, September 15 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. White Elephant Sale at Marston House, 3525 Seventh Avenue, San Diego The sale will have everything from antiques to art, jewelry, sporting good to boutique items. You will find collectibles and treasures of all sorts and support SOHO.

Friday, September 21 6 to 9 p.m.Price: $50 per person (please pay in advance)

Enjoy a special elegant evening in a historic and beautiful c. 1910s Mission Revival home in Mission Hills. Guests will enjoy

West Lewis Mini Park Celebration Mission Hi l ls Gets New Park

SOHO September Events

Residents and government officials participate in a ribbon cutting ceremony. Pictured (l to r) holding scissors are Kathy Jones, John Lomac, Council President

Pro Tem Kevin Faulconer, Councilmember Todd Gloria and Lara Gates.

Lara Gates and founding members, Kathy Jones and John Lomac, shared their enthusiasm for the park. Also on hand for the celebration were Council President Pro Tem Kevin Faulconer, Councilmember Todd Gloria and Park & Recreation Director Stacey LoMedico.

catered hors d’oeuvres courtesy of Crest Café,wine, refreshments and entertainment by a local musician. Send your checks to: “Balboa Park Fund Raiser”, 1824 Sunset Blvd. San Diego CA 92103. Make checks out to SOHO (please write Balboa Park Legal Fund in the lower left of your check). Include your name, email address & cell phone number on a separate piece of paper; you will receive an email or with the reception address before the event.

For more information on SOHO and how can you can help to Save Balboa Park, please visit the SOHO website at sohosandiego.org.



Local News

Presidio Hills is a progressively planned and exclusive area of Mission Hills.

Mission Hills Heritage Home TourP res i d i o H i l ls ’ N e i g h b o r h o o d Feat u re d

Presidio Hills, an enclave of about 60 homes lying just above Presidio Park, is the focus of the eighth annual self-guided tour of five historic homes presented by Mission Hills Heritage (MHH) on Saturday, September 22 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“Subdivided in 1926, Presidio Hills is one of the last tracts to be developed in Mission Hills,” said Barry Hager, chairman of the MHH board.

Filled with beautiful residences—many built between 1927 and 1940—architectural styles include Spanish, American and Colonial Revival as well as Spanish Eclectic.

“The tract is arguably the most progressively planned and exclusive area of Mission Hills,” Hager said.

“Many homes feature spectacular views of Old Town, Mission Bay and Mount Soledad,” said Tom Roetker, chair of MHH’s events committee.

The subdivision’s development was led by George W. Marston, local pioneer, merchant and philanthropist, Hager said. Marston was also instrumental in the creation of Presidio Park and the Junipero Serra Museum, directly below Presidio Hills.

“As the first European settlement in California, it was Marston’s intention to preserve the ruins as well as the heritage of the Spanish-fortified town built on the site in 1769,” Hager said.

Realizing the importance of the site, in 1907 Marston, joined by John D. Spreckels, E.W. Scripps and several others, continued to acquire more land

for the park. After years of trying to interest the City of San Diego in creating a park on the site, Marston bought out the others, and in 1925 hired landscape architect and planner John Nolan to lay out the park.

Marston also hired famed architect William Templeton Johnston to design the Junipero Serra Museum. Dedicated in 1929, the museum, with its timeless grandeur and romantic Spanish style, helped set the tone for continued development in Presidio Hills.

By 1927, several impressive homes already had been constructed on Presidio Drive, most in various Spanish Revival styles, with stucco walls and red-tiled roofs. Prominent San Diegans including doctors, bankers and business owners, called upon architects and builders such as Alexander Schreiber, Cliff May and Louis Preibisius to design the homes.

During the Depression years there was a lull in construction in Presidio Hills, but by the mid-1930s, home building

picked back up. It was during this period that builder Cliff May introduced a new architectural style described as “low, rambling Mexican haciendas,” which helped launch his reputation and long home-building career. Today, these homes, replete with inner courtyards and rustic red tile roofs, add an eclectic touch to the enclave.

Advance tickets for the home tour, which features a guidebook with a map and detailed descriptions of interiors and docent-led tours through

the spacious residences and grounds, are $20 for MHH members, $25 for non-members (if mailed by September 7, 2012 to MHH, 325 W. Washington St. #221, San Diego, CA 92103), and $25 for members and $30, non-members the day of the tour. A table for Will Call and ticket sales will be open September 22 in the 2400 block of Presidio Drive. Information: www.missionhillsheritage.org. Email [email protected]. Phone (619)497-1193.



15Lifestyles

Emilio Nares Foundation presents the 9th annual H ar v est f o r H o p e

Harvest for Hope is a fundraising event to raise funds and create awareness for the Emilio Nares Foundation, which provides information, programs, and services for low-income, underprivileged families whose child is battling cancer. Harvest for Hope will be held from 3 to 6 p.m., Sunday, September 23 at Stingaree, located at 454 6th Avenue in downtown San Diego.

The event brings together some of the finest chef’s in San Diego to create unique dishes and pair them with some of the finest wines and spirits in the world. The result is a beautiful fun afternoon of great food, wine, music and friendship benefitting the Emilio Nares Foundation. Cost is $125 per person or $1,000 for 10 people.

Richard and Diane Nares lost their

only child, Emilio Nares, to cancer. Turning tragedy to hope, the Nares’ family created the Emilio Nares Foundation (ENF). ENF serves over 5,000 patients and families annually in San Diego and Orange County.

Harvest for Hope participating restaurants, include Acqua al 2/Toast Enoteca, Brooklyn Girl, Bice Ristorante, Croce’s Restaurant & Bar, Café Chloe, Carnitas Snack Shack, Searsucker, Gaijin, & Stingaree, Pamplemousse Grille, AR Valentine at The Lodge Torrey Pines and Karl Strauss Brewery.

RSVP online at www.EmilioNaresFoundation.org. For sponsorship opportunities, call Heidi Cramer at (760) 310-9467 or email at [email protected]. Diane Nares, Carlo Cecchetto of KFMB TV 8 and Richard Nares (l to r)

at the 2011 Harvest for Hope.

First Avenue Bar & Grille N ew Yo r k Pe rs o na l i t y S ans t h e A tt i t u d e

This past month a guest and I were invited to a menu tasting at the First Avenue Bar & Grille, located at 1055 First Avenue in downtown San Diego at the Bristol Hotel. The venue is sophisticated, yet comfortable. There’s an intimate bar off to the left as you enter the restaurant. Casual meals are served in the lounge, or, you can enjoy your meals in the main dining room, which is what we elected to do.

I will start by saying that the staff at the First Avenue Bar & Grille is first class. They are engaging and caring. From the moment we arrived to our late departure, the wait staff, chef and general manager made us feel part of their extended family.

Christian Biscocho, general manager, and Brittany Battistoni, chef de cuisine, were very gracious and interested in our impressions of the restaurant, food, drinks and our overall experience. We said we would be glad to offer our feedback.

To start the meal, we shared thyme twice-cooked Yukon gold fries and calamari with spicy smoked pepper aioli as an appetizer. They were flavorful, and because of the large portions, could easily be considered a stand alone meal.

However, I also tried the grilled local sea bass with calamari, mussels, charred tomato saffron broth, leeks, potatoes and grilled ciabatta. It was delicious, flavorful and dissolved with each bite. I learned that all meals are prepared with local, fresh fish, meat, produce and fruit. Processed food isn’t allowed in the kitchen. I can definitely attest to the fact that the food is fresh and flavorful.

Brittany Battistoni, chef de cuisine, and Christian Biscocho, general

manager, share a passion for food and the restaurant business.

Then came the homemade dessert. We shared a pomegranate-citrus sorbet with blue berries. It was amazing.

If we weren’t already full to capacity, we were invited to try their bread pudding with chocolate. As difficult as it was to take another bite, I quickly decided this had to be the best bread pudding that I’d ever had. It melts in your mouth and is robust with flavors. What a great way to end the meal.

I’ve already complimented the staff. However, I think it’s important to reiterate that everyone we met was personable and eager to please. That alone makes this establishment an exception.

At the same time, the ambience of the venue and the selection and quality of food make this our “A” list choice. We definitely will return.

First Avenue Bar & Grille is open for breakfast, dinner and happy hour seven days a week; lunch is served Monday through Friday. For more information, visit www.firstavenuegrille.com.



Theatre

Cr i t i ca l ly -acc l a imed Moòlelo Performing Arts Company announced the cast and creative team of its upcoming production of “Kita y Fernanda” by playwright Tanya Saracho. The show will begin previews on September 27, 2012 and run through October 21, 2012 at The 10th Avenue Theatre in Downtown San Diego, Playwright Tanya Saracho will join Moòlelo for post-show discussions on October 11 and 12.

“Kita y Fernanda” explores class, immigration, language and women’s friendships as it follows the lives of two girls growing up in the same household: one the privileged daughter of a rich Mexican family living in Texas, the other the child of an undocumented maid. Playwright Tanya Saracho, who critics call “the Chicana Chekhov,” uniquely blends English and Spanish in this rich imagining of the complex lives of these two girls. Rendered through monologue and memory, the play dramatizes one chance encounter between the two women years after their last interaction.

Moòlelo’s production will be helmed

The international hit musical, “My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m Still in Therapy!, starring the author and Broadway star of the show, Steve Solomon, will run through September 9, 2012.

In “My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m Still in Therapy!” Steve Solomon continues the comedy chaos of “My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m in Therapy!,” which had San Diego audiences guffawing in 2011. It’s described as “One part lasagna, one part kreplach, and two parts Prozac,” but you don’t have to be Jewish or Italian to love this show. All

Diversionary Theatre has announced casting for its production of “Pippin,” the extraordinary musical journey with book & lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, book by Roger O. Hirson and directed by James Vasquez. Performances begin at Diversionary Theatre (4545 Park Blvd San Diego, CA 92116) on September 6.

Courtney Corey (Original LA & Chicago “Wicked,” 1st & 2nd National Tours of “Rent”) pas leading Player and Louis Pardo (National Tour of “Jesus Christ Super Star”) as Pippin lead a cast that includes Megan Carmitchel (Catherine), Andy Collins (King Charles), Tony Houck (Lewis), Luke Jacobs (Fastrada), Wendy Maples

M o ` o l e l o P e r f o r m i n g A r t s C o m p a n y

L y c e u m T h e a t r e

D i v e r s i o n a r y T h e a t r e

by Co-Directors Seema Sueko, the executive artistic director of Moòlelo Performing Arts Company, and Robert Castro, professor of Theatre and Dance at UCSD. Cynthia Bastidas, a native of Southern California and New York-based actor, will return to San Diego to tackle the role of Kita, the daughter of the maid; Gabriela Trigo, a recent CalArts MFA graduate will portray Fernanda.

For tickets and information on “Kita y Fernanda,” please visit www.moolelo.net or call 619-342-7395.

you need is to know what it feels like to leave a family dinner with heartburn and a headache!

This time Steve takes audiences back to his wacky childhood growing up with his twin sister, “The Smoker.” The audience follows along on this wonderfully funny journey about growing up, mixed marriages, ex-wives, dogs, cats, dieting, and dozens of other side-splitting situations we can all relate to.

Tickets are available at the Lyceum Office at 619-544-1000 or online at www.lyceumevents.org.

(Berthe) and Hunter Schwarz (Theo).In this reimagined, innovative

staging of the musical favorite, James Vasquez upends the story of a young prince searching for happiness and fulfillment. On his journey Pippin samples the glories of the battlefield, the wisdom of a grandmother, the intrigues of political power, the pleasures of the flesh and simple farm life – trying to find where he fits in.

Memberships and tickets available online at www.diversionary.org, through Diversionary Theatre’s Box Office by calling 619-220-0097 or by visiting 4545 Park Boulevard San Diego, CA 92116.

The visitors push every button in the couple’s relationship, truly putting it to the test.

“2 Days in New York” is 91 minutes long, Rated R, and opens August 31, 2012 at Landmark’s Hillcrest Cinemas. For information and times, call (619) 819-0236, or visit www.landmarkTheatres.com. Film times and dates are subject to change.

“2 Days in New York” is writer/director Julie Delpy’s deliciously witty follow-up to her film “2 Days in Paris.” Hip talk-radio host and journalist Mingus (Chris Rock) and his French photographer girlfriend, Marion (Julie Delpy), live cozily in a New York apartment with their cat and two young children from previous relationships. But when Marion’s jolly father (played by Delpy’s real-life dad, Albert Delpy), her oversexed sister, and her sister’s outrageous boyfriend unceremoniously descend upon them for an overseas visit, it initiates two unforgettable days of family mayhem.

With their unabashed openness and sexual frankness, the triumvirate is bereft of boundaries or filters... and no one is left unscathed in its wake.

Chris Rock and Julie Delpy star in a comedy about odd family relationships.

L A N D M A R K T H E A T R E S2 Days in New York



17Local News

Prepare to enter the boundless realm of the supernatural. The happy ghost haunters of Old Town Trolley beckon you to take a trip in their buggy of doom for a journey around San Diego’s darker side. The limited engagement is September through October 2012 only, and reservations are required at (619) 298-8687.

As dusk approaches the tour starts in the dead center of the Old Town Marketplace, located at 4010 Twiggs Street in Old Town, where your ghost host will tell you a tale of sea monsters. Stories of murder and death by hanging are but a few happy thoughts for a gloomy evening, a spiritual uplifting so to speak

Your buggy of despair then spirits you away from Old Town winding its way to a little known park with a tales of an historic cemetery in Mission Hills. You should really watch your step while there. Then you’ll descend down to the Maritime Museum along the Port and hear its tantalizing tales of terrifying sailing stories.

As you head back to Old Town and your final destination, the ghost host will tell stories of being buried alive. It’s an “undertaking task.”

On a walk through El Campo Santo Cemetery you’ll perhaps meet the

The annual Spirits of Mexico Festival, North America’s largest celebration of agave-based and other Mexican spirits, kicks off this year in San Diego with Tequila Trail on Sunday, Sept. 9, from 3 to 6 p.m. For the price of a $35 ticket, Mexican cuisine connoisseurs and tequila lovers will blaze through the streets of Old Town San Diego sampling selections of agave spirits paired with culinary specialties from the participating restaurants.

Sponsored by Cointreau, attendees will sample the finest tequilas, mescals, sotols, bacanoras and other Mexican spirits as well as savor culinary specialties from 12 of Old Town’s celebrated eateries: Barra Barra Saloon, Café Coyote, Casa de Reyes, Casa Guadalajara, El Alamo, El Fandango, Fred’s Mexican Café, La Piñata, Miguel’s Cocina, Old Town Mexican Café, Rockin’ Baja Coastal Cantina and The Cosmopolitan Restaurant.

The 2012 Tequila Trail is a fundraiser for the Old Town Chamber of Commerce and is made possible by Cointreau, Fiesta de Reyes, and International Wine and Spirits Group, producers of Spirits of Mexico.

Following the end of Tequila Trail, three after parties will ensue at Fiesta

Dying to take a ride on the dark side of San Diego?Old Town Trolley’s ‘Ghosts & Gravestones’ tour returns this September

Tequila Trail Event Comes to Old TownPair ing of Mexican cuis ine and tequi la dr inks

Ghost hosts scare and entertain.Milagro reps mix drinks for guests.

pioneers of San Diego who should have remained six feet underground.

Your last walk will take you to America’s most haunted, outside on the Whaley House grounds, where stories of the past will dig up memories of the tragic Whaley family.

Your evening concludes with this question in your mind. Is something or someone standing in the shadows beside you? Decide for yourself. Sweet dreams.

This tour is not appropriate for children. The tour runs most dark and stormy nights; so, dress appropriately. Part of the tour is walking. Comfortable shoes are advised, or you will be dead on your feet.

To learn more, visit http://www.trolleytours.com/

san-diego/ghost-tours.asp.

de Reyes, Casa Guadalajara and Café Coyote. These after parties require an additional $10 admission.

The 2012 Spirits of Mexico Festival is set to showcase hundreds of the world’s top agave and other Mexican spirits Sept. 9 through 16 in the historic heart of San Diego -- Old Town San Diego. The Spirits of Mexico Festival is arguably the largest and most prestigious event for agave spirits in North America. This year’s San Diego festival will be packed with tasting receptions, educational seminars, a comprehensive tasting competition and resultant awards ceremony, as well as plenty of authentic Mexican cuisine. For more information about the San Diego Spirits of Mexico Festival, visit www.thespiritsofmexico.com.

To purchase tickets for Tequila Trail, visit oldtowntequilatrail.com.



March EventsLifestyle

What Now? ANYONE OUT THERE?I don’t really worry THAT much about

whether any of you are devoted readers of my (occasionally) semi-brilliant columns. Such fretting would be such a burden; as any columnist knows, it’s quite enough to figure what to write about, than to pine over the size of one’s readership.

Still, I can’t help but be thrilled - THRILLED – when up popped my

international readership:

Who knew I could be big in Britain? Of course! I was

there once. Who knew the Russians SO love my stuff? Their country is half my heritage. Readers! Embrace me!

Has there ever been an interview with a prolific or famous author in which he/she does not say “I love to write?” It’s a lie. What writers mean is, we “love to be read!”

This is historic. Mark Twain dedicated his first book to “John Smith,” an everyman name, in the hope of attracting more readers. (You get this, don’t you?)

Cuban dictator Fidel Castro published his six-hour speeches, but even under threat of imprisonment (or worse) for not reading them, his hapless subjects took the risk. Craving an audience, he switched to haikus.

We writers today just don’t like anonymity. At most, said Robert McCrum in NewsWeek, “publishing anonymously is only an emotional game, designed to tease.” (“The Story of O?”) He cites Shakespeare, Jane Austin, the Bronte sisters, George Eliot among others, who, a few centuries ago, published their work anonymously. But then, you

could get drawn, quartered, ex-communicated, hung. for your craft. Today - at least in America - the worst is to be … ignored. (Singapore, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Thailand are just a few countries still imprison their writers.)

It’s possible I take this whole attention thing too seriously.“I write because … I like to eat,” says sportswriter Barry

Bloom, among the miniscule number of writers who actually make a living at it (mlb.com).

Mimi Brodsky-Chenfeld writes for teachers and children. If she hadn’t fallen in love with Jo March (“Little Women,” “Little Men”), who scribbled away about everything in life – she herself might not even be a writer today. “Without my words, places, people, names, plots, my random thoughts would be lost!” she says.

But who, exactly, would miss them? Ouch. Yes, when Louisa May Alcott was writing, people took

time to read. Now, David Carr (NY Times), noted the “Web’s ferocious appetite for content – you are only as visible as your last post.”

“It’s not that writing is easy work,” sighs Peter Jensen. “‘Writing’ implies opening one’s veins with Mont Blanc’s Meisterstuck fountain pen.”

That’s the problem; we labor so long, so hard over every word, nuance, direction, we feel we’ve earned. Indeed, we hunger for your devoted attention.

There are limited exceptions. Allan Retsky has been an international commodities trader; now he writes fiction. His “Vanished in the Dunes; A Hamptons Mystery,” is newly published (Oceanview Publishing). But go figure. He offers not one word about craving to be read; an unusually balanced writer: “Writing provides a rejuvenation process that rekindles creative juices, it’s exciting to create your own world… but the bigger high comes from the journey.”

I don’t begrudge him his lack of need for attention, so go ahead, and buy his book.

But only after you’ve read all my columns.

By Laura Walcher

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Phone: (619) 295-4146

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receptor that causes all the symptomatic havoc such as hot flashes, joint pain, mood swings, memory/concentration problems, anxiety, insomnia and even osteo-porosis.

It is completely true that lifestyle, diet and body composition have a lot to do with how much estrogen is circulating in the body and hence, how much is docking with E Rr. It has been demonstrated since 1993 in Germany that use of the rhubarb extract “E Rr731 “ can reliably and selectively block the target estrogen receptor sites to prevent the symptoms of menopause. And before we dismiss these symptoms as simply an annoyance to be tolerated, consider that research has shown that women with the most hot flashes (15-20 a day) are also at high risk for heart disease. In fact, during a hot flash, the intensity of the hot flash can impair the vasodilation capacity, making blood pressure go up and increasing the risk of blood clots. The frequency of hot flashes is also correlated to reduced bone mineral density and increased joint inflammation. You can consider the hot flash to be a neon sign trying to get your attention about danger ahead.

So, anything that can really treat the cause of menopause symptoms is an important health tool.

The extract has been in public use and continued study for the last twenty years in Europe, with a great safety profile, both short term and long term, with no noted side effects. This cannot be said for our usual routine of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Siberian rhubarb can be used a tolerable way to wean off of HRT.

This Siberian rhubarb extract is becoming available to us in the U.S. It is the main ingredient in a product called Estrione atwww.learnestrovera.com and other merchandisers can be found online. It is important to be

Rhubarb is a wonderful, old fashioned, garden product featured in classic cook books for strawberry rhubarb pie, pickled rhubarb stems, cookies, casseroles and more. In home remedies, the root has been used for thousands of years as a reliable laxative and detoxifier for liver, gallbladder and colon complaints. It was recorded in

cultivation in Siberia in the year 2700 B.C. as part of their “Materia Medica.” Marco Polo brought it to Britain in the 13th century, where it became part of the monastery herb gardens. At that time, it was worth more than opium and ten times the cost of imported, exotic cinnamon or saffron. Initially, only the roots were used, and the leaves and stalks ignored. In the 1700s that changed and the focus moved to culinary uses. Today, you have to look hard to find Rhubarb root in commerce.

This focus on edible parts is now changing. Use of the root as a remedy is coming back, this time in a new form. One of the varieties of rhubarb, rheum rhaponticum, has been studied for its ability to mitigate the symptoms related to menopause and peri-menopause. The extraction process used eliminates the bitter elements , anthro-quinones, that cause the laxative action. What they have left is termed “E Rr 731”. This stands for estrogen receptor type “r”. We, both women and men, have estrogen receptors all over our bodies, controlling every imaginable function. Some estrogen receptors have mild action, others stimulate dramatic changes. To get an idea of how many types of receptors there are, consider that the “r” is arrived at after you have gone through estrogen receptors “alpha,” “beta” … etc. The ER r731 has been identified as the

careful when looking for the extract to be sure that you are getting the E Rr731 and not simply a concentrated of regular, laxative-type rhubarb root. When in doubt, go with the evidence-based, name brand and not the “generic” version.

As always, be aware that no herb or medication can make up for an unhealthy life style. If you are one of the folks with “metabolic syndrome,” you will get best results for your peri-menopause problems by combining the herbal supplements with a program to improve body composition. There are currently such programs being offered by healthcare providers who have a Metagenics “Lifestyle Educator” on staff to personally coach you through a twelve week program designed to address the core cause of your symptoms for lasting relief. You can check with the Metagenics directory local providers of this service. I will be giving a free talk on this subject at Pharmaca Pharmacy in La Jolla the first Saturday in November.

The Rhubarb about Menopause

Rhubarb has been studied for its ability to mitigate the symptoms related to menopause and peri-menopause

By Charlotte Tenney, MA Integrative Healt

United States - 3038

Russia - 52

United Kingdom - 41

Germany - 28

Malaysia -27

Israel- 26

Mexico - 24

Latvia -12

Slovenia -11

France - 10

Latvia - 2

Canada -7



19Lifestyle

Designer, Stacie May, Speaks About Her Inspiration for Fashion Week San DiegoBy Aubree Lynnwww.stylishlyals.weebly.com

Walking up to a side door on Fifth Avenue, I was greeted by a cute blonde with a pixie haircut waiting to take me upstairs into her sew room, which contained several of her ensembles that will be featured on the runway during the upcoming Fashion Week San Diego. This girl from Philadelphia, whom would soon be known as Stacie May at the Savannah College Art and Design School in Georgia, took me into the conference room and we started in on a discussion that would unravel the designer behind the looks.

AL: What inspired your look for fall 2012?

SM: Well actually, my collection is spring/summer 2013. I didn’t do a fall collection. Since I have been doing one collection per year I choose spring/summer since we are in San Diego.

AL: Ok, so what inspired your creations for spring/summer 2013?

SM: I actually went out and used San Diego for my creations. I decided to play tourist in my own city and tried to soak in some of the culture with the colors and the vibe, using architecture for inspiration. Hopefully it comes out to one cohesive collection.

AL: What is your brand name? What made you decide on that name?

SM: Stacie May is my brand name, and it was an acquired nickname from one of my previous work places that just kind of stuck; I just liked the sound of it so I went with it. It was easy to remember. How it came about: or some reason we all just started calling each

other May, I don’t know how it happened.

AL: Describe your style and the style of your designs.

SM: My design style is very feminine for the most part - vintage inspired with a modern twist. So I use vintage inspired fabrics with modern cuts or modern fabrics with vintage cuts. I mix the two to produce a more wearable piece.

AL: How did you first start your career? When did your clothing line finally take off?

SM: I have been doing this since I was ten years old, but did not officially launch until Fashion Week San Diego (FWSD) 2008. I have dabbled in costume design, made fun stuff for myself or for my friends, few collections in college, and then I finally decided it was time in 2008.

AL: You have been in FWSD in 2008 and now in 2012. Did you see a rise in clientele for 2008? What was your desire to come back to be a part of FWSD for a second time?

SM: Well, with 2008 that was the very first time I put anything out there. I got a lot of opportunities from that exposure and a lot of sales. It just kind of put my name out there and so I kind of rode the coat tails from Fashion Week. From there, each opportunity has presented more sales and it has grown since then. I decided to do Fashion Week again because they were extremely supportive of me the

Stacie May

Human Tune Up Queen for a Day FantasyQueen for a day used to be on

daytime television in the 50s. I remember watching it with my mom.

It was a “weekday weep-fest.” Women would share their hard luck stories with the studio audience who would then vote by “applause-o-meter” for the lucky one.

The prize was often a fur coat; the epitome of a prize in those days. I’ve never forgotten that show.

And I admit now to fantasizing about my own version of Queen for a Day which does not at all resemble the one of the 50s.

When I am Queen, I am all powerful. And what would I do with this power?

For role reversal, I’d start with this. In my Queen-For-a-Day world, men,

you would have the lovely opportunity to experience being in a woman’s body ….during that special time of the

month when you would get to know PMS first hand.

Because really, it’s just downright nearly impossible to explain cramps, bloating and being an inch away from wanting to choke someone, all occurring simultaneously, unless you’ve had the direct experience.

I would also love for you to have the experience of sitting with your legs together, as expected, all the time.

And may you have the female experience of chatting and listening back and forth with your friends about your deepest darkest secrets.

No fixing problems allowed. No listing of your many accomplishments. Just chatting and chatting; and genuinely enjoying talking endlessly.

My hope of course is that you would leave all these experience with a whole new level of empathy. A

Queen can dream.And since role reversal means

role reversal, woman also get the opportunity to experience life in a man’s body. Testosterone.

Right away you can tell some things are different can’t you?

Not only that you find yourself thinking about sex more than you ever have, but all of a sudden you want to produce and provide, produce and provide. Somehow this societal-pressure slipped into your DNA. Lost your job equals lost your identity. How did those two get so linked?

Now you know what it’s like.But you also find yourself going

off to spend time with your buddies. It seems the natural thing to do. You certainly don’t mean anything personal by it. You still love your woman.

And you find yourself watching

By Cath DeStefano

shoot ‘em up kill ‘em movies on television, and creating an entire list of them on NetFlix. It seems so natural.

Women in men’s bodies: role reversal birthing new levels of empathy. A Queen can dream.

Perhaps the Republicans and Democrats will join me in a Queen Empathy Fantasy next…..

To learn more about Cath DeStefano, Speaker and Author,

visit www.HumanTuneUp.com

first time, and I have a loyalty and a strong belief that San Diego can be something in the fashion industry.

AL: Do you see San Diego being a contributor to your brand? If not, is it mostly online clients from other cities? If this is true, why do you think you appeal to outsiders in San Diego?

SM: I get this question a lot. I think San Diegans are set in their ways. I don’t mean that in a bad way, I just think that everyone is just comfortable, and they don’t want to venture out and get out of the norm/conservative, I would say. They are also not really aware of what is here for them. I sell a lot online, pretty much all over the world. I sell a lot to New York City, believe it or not, and Canada. Some things have gone to Australia, France, and also Japan, which is really great! I sell through Etsy which is a beneficial thing because it is international and a couple others do the marketing for it while I get the exposure.

AL: If I would purchase your clothing how would I go about doing that? What are your price points?

SM: The best way is staciemay.com. Price points are between fifty and three hundred dollars, unless it is a specialty gown or fabric. Dresses usually go for about a hundred dollars.

AL: What do you want your audience to know about you, something inspiring, something personal?

SM: That’s a good question. I always tell people, women especially, we’re always so afraid of what we think of each other, I always say just express yourself and be yourself and have fun with what you wear. You know, because it shows confidence and it’s more fun that way.

After the interview I was able to view the collection that will be presented in Fashion Week San Diego’s evening runway show in October, and some of these pieces are the boldest expressions of San Diego. If you are looking to venture out of the norm with clothing and other pieces, go to www.staciemay.com where you can purchase items that those in Australia and New York are wearing. What an awesome interview, and what an accomplishment to be selling fashion to the cities we look to for mimicked looks, and for our own inspiration.



discovered Lindstedt, Morris and Cottrell during a series of informal, open mic collaborations. Since announcing their band name and lineup during a live KXCI performance in March 2012, Copper & Congress has quickly become a band to be reckoned with, and one with a seemingly unlimited future.

Copper & Congress was able to record their first CD by raising more than $12,000 from backers at the fundraising site Kickstarter.com. In less than a month, over 100 people donated $12,500. They hired Tucson’s legendary Craig Schumacher at WaveLab studios, and featured on the album performances by Calexico members Joey Burns and Jacob Valenzuela. The band’s intimate and wide-ranging musical tastes and backgrounds emphasize the intricate arrangements of songs on “The Leap Year,” and the energy between members is especially evident during live performances.

Copper & Congress is clearly a band that’s committed to their craft. Doubly focused on technical perfection and raw, emotional truth, and honoring their Tucson-inspired name, Copper & Congress strives to reflect the varied nature of their native music scene by combining bluesy, country, and Americana sounds. Throughout “The Leap Year,” the energetic music combines with Haverly’s revealing, poetic lyrics and transcendent voice.

According to Haverly, “The album feels like a journey, like lots of stories weaving together to tell one big story.”

writes about big, difficult subjects with a grace and precision you will find quickly in “Camilla.” It’s a story of the brutal civil rights struggle in Camilla, Georgia. It’s a tale of one woman’s determination to overcome. It’s history written as verse. Another cut, “Free as a Bird,” is a song from the 1840’s that she mined from the archives and reinterpreted it in her own distinctive style. In April of 2012, Texas Music Magazine named her “Mistress” as one of the top 50 all-time best Texas songs and her album “Twilight” among the top 50 essential Texas records. Herring has earned every one of these accolades, and many more like them.

No less than Mary Chapin Carpenter said: “As a singer, Caroline Herring’s beautiful voice sets her apart and her songwriting is just as distinctive – she takes the listener on a journey with her head and her heart.” Since her debut in 2001, Herring has gained a devoted following and much critical acclaim. Dubbed “Best New Artist” at the Austin Music Awards, Caroline has been profiled on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” been a guest on Garrison Keillor’s “A

Haverly wrote eight of the ten tunes on “The Leap Year,” and co-wrote two with bassist Morris. “Patrick and I are writing together now, he’s an amazing writer and bass player, I was so amazed when I first heard him, Corey is nothing short of genius on guitar and Kai’s drumming gives each song the perfect edge. We’re now all starting to write as a band, and everyone brings their own strength.”

Several reviewers have gushed openly about Morris’ bass playing: Said one, “He eschews typical bass lines for a busy style that sometimes carries the melody.” Indeed, Morris plays bass like some guitarists play lead, and his beautiful bass lines are all over the map, testimony to the skill that his years of playing have produced. Drummer Kai Lindstet, in the words of Tempo Magazine, “…proved to be critical to the edgier songs. Quickly pounding away on the catchy, ‘Jennifer,’ and helping the building energy of, ‘Animal,’ Lindstedt thunders his way through the music.” Lead Guitarist Corey Cottrell’s work is impressive, with forays into various

Prairie Home C o m p a n i o n , ” and was the only American representative involved in the prestigious Cecil Sharp Project in England, a group of musicians commissioned to compose music based on the life and collections of Cecil James Sharp, the founding father of the folklore revival in England in the early 20th century.

Jeremy Seal of Maverick Magazine seems to say it best: “From her 2001 debut Twilight to her fourth release Golden Apples of The Sun, she’s never wanted for critical acclaim, but her latest work, “Camilla,” takes things to a whole new level entirely. With music of this caliber, she’s going to be a name to be reckoned with for a long time to come.” To purchase “Camilla” and to hear sound samples, simply click on www.carolineherring.com.

genres, but always coming back to grace Haverly’s sweet vocals. Haverly has been compared to Joni Mitchell and Sarah McLachlan’s early work. She goes from pure pop to jazz and into blues without missing a beat, and while the comparisons are fair, I don’t hear Mitchell or McLachlan – I hear Katie Haverly, who has a fine command of her voice and has refined her singing to its pinnacle. There seems nothing she can’t wrap her voice around and nothing that the band can’t keep up with, and inspire her vocals to greater heights.

Rough plans are currently in the works to bring Copper & Congress to San Diego for some local gigs. In preparation for that, and to hear sound samples of their songs and to purchase “The Leap Year,” simply go to CD Baby, or to the band’s website www.copperandcongress.com. This is a band that you don’t want to miss out on. The CD will quickly become your “car CD,” that one you listen to for weeks at a time – and I bet you’ll be waiting to hear from me about that San Diego gig. Stay tuned.

Copper & Congress, hailing from Tucson, Arizona recently released their debut CD, and the story of how the band came together in the first place, and how they produced “The Leap Year,” is a story

with ironic twists and turns. A chance meeting at an open mic night convinced the quartet that they had a future as a band, and they wanted to record right out of the gate. To accomplish this, Copper & Congress launched a fundraising effort on Kickstarter.com to finance the production of “The Leap Year,” and the CD has now garnered several stellar reviews. Not bad for a band that only formed last March.

Lead singer Katie Haverly says: “This is pop music with no boundaries. We honor each of our own musical presences, there’s no allegiance to a single ego and we all come together and bring everyone’s strength to the band.” In the words of The Arizona Daily Star, “Don’t bother kicking yourself if you’ve never heard of “Tucson’s latest buzz band.” Copper & Congress is Haverly (vocals, guitar, and keyboards), Corey Cottrell (guitar, vocals), Kai Lindstedt (drums), and Patrick Morris (bass). The band combines elements of indie-rock, alternative, jazz, and folk styles, creating an intimately raw sound.

After singing and performing for 13 years with varying bands, Haverly moved to Tucson from upstate New York in September of 2011, and

With compliments, accolades and endorsements from critics and fellow musicians, Signature Sounds recording artist Caroline Herring has emerged as perhaps the most literate and distinctive songwriter of her generation, and one of the freshest voices to hit the music scene in decades. (And I’m not overstating it!) August 28 saw the release of her sixth album, “Camilla,” her best creation to date. “I feel braver on this album,” Herring says, “and I feel it represents me wholly.”

Herring’s songs on this disc are, in her words “perfect little mysteries and powerful, hopeful love stories, but never simple romances.” On “Camilla,’ Herring’s ten, self-penned songs are complex and tradition-filled tales of love and hate and everything in between. It’s her most profound collection of songs yet, reflecting her achievements as a lyrical and inventive songwriter. These are songs whose vocals succeed in moving the listener with her rich vibrato and high trills.

Herring has been compared to Lucinda Williams, Joan Baez, and even Mozart, believe it or not. Herring

Copper & Congress Dubbed “Tucson’s Latest Buzz Band”

Caroline Herring Release of “Camilla”

Music Scene

Copper & Congress (L to R): Patrick Morris, Katie Haverly, Kai Lindstedt and Corey Cottrell.

Photo Credit: Trevor Crosby

Caroline Herring

By Richard Cone

By Richard Cone



21

“D Bar” could be a terrific name for a ranch in Texas. It would make a recognizable brand on the sides of beef on the panhandle. But it is neither of those.

“D Bar” is the name of one of the exciting new restaurants to open in San Diego in the past year. Keegan Gerhard, a highly recognized pastry chef, opened up a second “D Bar” in Hillcrest, following up on his successful similar operation in Denver. He heard about the available space from Colorado friends, who opened Snooze, a breakfast and lunch eatery next door. He jumped at it.

Why San Diego? Why Hillcrest? “Coming to San Diego has been our dream for years. Hillcrest is the up and coming area of the city. Downtown, the Gaslamp, La Jolla and the rest has seen development. Hillcrest is where the future is going,” he confided. Gerhard went on to list the ten or so other

and subsequently worked at major restaurants. They met in France and magic happened outside the kitchen. They are now married and working together. What is it like to share the kitchen with Lisa? “It works well. We each have our own areas of responsibility and don’t get in each other’s way,” Gerhard continued.

The large restaurant is beautifully, if simply, designed. The clean, long lines and enormously high ceilings create a sense of volume and space, accented by pleasing colors. A skylight illuminates the ceiling. Large windows in front bring in more light and can be raised up in the evenings so that the whole front of the building is open to cool evening breezes. A welcoming bar runs along one side of the interior and a long “open” dessert kitchen runs along the other. The comfortable patio near the front door is “pet friendly.”

Food offerings are almost personal. “We serve what we like to eat,” Gerhard revealed. He disclosed that one of the things he enjoys about San Diego is the tremendous availability of fresh produce, meats and seafood. “I love shopping at the Hillcrest Farmers Market, where real farmers show up with their goods. And there is Chino Farms nearby and so many more.”

There are two distinct menus, one for food and, of course, another for desserts. The dinner menu begins with “everything taste better with bacon,” which is incorporated into such appetizers as “d bar dates” with organic

Sweet Endings – D Barrestaurants that have opened up in the same block during the past year.

Keegan Gerhard was named one of the nation’s top 10 pastry chefs of 2002 and 2004 by both Chocolatier and Pastry Art & Design magazines. He has worked as pastry chef with Charlie Trotters Restaurant, the Waldorf Astoria and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and also as Executive Pastry Chef of Four Seasons Chicago and Executive Assistant Pastry Chef of Wynn Las Vegas.

On television, he has been featured on the Discovery Channel’s Great Chefs of America, and on Food Network and CNN. He served as technical advisor to Team USA 2001 Pastry World Cup, which won a gold medal. He taught his skills at Johnson & Wales University, has been honored widely by leading culinary magazines.

This is a family affair. Gerhard met Lisa Bailey, a renowned pastry chef who trained at the Art Institute of Houston

medjool dates and “crue fries” with melted jack cheese. Salads are described as “on the greener side of things” and include “grilled ceasar” with baby romaine and garlic croutons and “vert salad” with watercress and arugula. I strongly recommend “avos, avos, avos” for avocado lovers. The dish presents avocado three ways --- sliced avocado, avocado puree with goat cheese, and an amazing shredded avocado flavored filo dough wrapping to a slice of avocado.

Entrees (listed as “grab a fork, maybe a knife”) offer choices of meat and fish. Salmon is grilled, halibut is pan roasted. Spaghetti and meatballs, with romano and heirloom tomato, taste practically homemade. The pork porterhouse is a large portion accompanied by tasty fingerling potato and topped by a delectable cherry barbeque sauce.

Don’t forget to leave room for dessert! There is something for every taste. Cake and shake combines amazing chocolate cake with chocolate shake (or vanilla, raspberry or a malted). Harlequin souffle combines vanilla and raspberry, raspberry sorbet, and crème fraiche.

D Bar offers an opportunity to experience good food and amazing desserts created by a great pastry chef, all at wonderfully moderate prices. And, in addition, happy hour specials – Tuesday through Sunday 3 to 6 pm (Nibbles & Sips) – make it even more affordable. D Bar is located at 3930 Fifth Avenue in Hillcrest. Call 619-299-3227 for more information.

Dining Scene

Join Us for Summer Brunch

The large restaurant is beautifully, and simply designed.

The pork porterhouse is a large portion accompanied by tasty fingerling potatoes.

by David Rottenber



Thru Sept.n Puppy Fun Class – San Diego Humane Society

and SPCA. New puppy parents can prevent problems by learning “how to raise their puppy right” through presentations on common puppy issues and engaging with their pups in dog-friendly training sessions. Registration required. For dates, times and locations, call 619-299-7012 x2247 or visit www.sdhumane.org for information.

n Head Start - San Diego Humane Society and SPCA. This five-part introductory-level training class (for dogs over four months old) will teach you the basics of positive reinforcement training techniques while your dogs learn good doggie behaviors. Pre-registration required. For dates, times and locations, call 619-299-7012 x2247 or visit www.sdhumane.org.

n Canine Good Citizen - San Diego Humane Society and SPCA. A seven-session intermediate-level obedience course geared towards passing the Canine Good Citizen certification test. The class may be taken with or without certification test. Space is limited. For dates, times and locations, call 619-299-7012 x2247 or visit www.sdhumane.org.

Thru Oct. 21n Allegiance: A San Diego Perspective - A museum

exhibition about the Japanese American internment during World War II and how it affected San Diego County and its citizens. Museum of Man Annex adjacent to the Globe. For tickets and information, visit www.TheOldGlobe.org or call 619-23-GLOBE.

Thru Nov. 11n The San Diego Museum of Art presents: The

Human Beast: German Expressionism. Featuring nine paintings on loan from the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. For information, visit www.thesandiegomuseumofart.org.

Sept. 1n The San Diego Sculptors Guild presents:

“Earthbound” a new sculpture series by Mary Buckman. Live music, wine and cheese reception from 5:00 – 9:00 p.m., Gallery 36, Spanish Village, Balboa Park. Come meet the artists, musicians, art-lovers, art collectors and our guests for an unforgettable “Earthbound” evening. For information, visit www.sandiegosculptorsguild.com/news or call at 619-238-0522.

n Dizzy’s presents: Robin Adler & Mutts of the Planet Honoring the music of Joni Mitchell. 8:00 p.m. The Backroom performance space of 98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd, Suite #110, San Diego. For more information, call 619-255-7885 or visit www.dizzysjazzcom. This show is open to ages 21 & up.

Sept. 1 & 2n Hawaiian Plumeria Festival - Sale of plumeria

plants, a show of flowers, music, and dancing. 10:00am-4:00 p.m., Balboa Park, Room 101 of the Casa del Prado. Free admission. For information, visit www.SoCalPlumeriaSociety.com.

Sept 2 n Screen Printing Basics – 12 - 2 p.m. MakerPlace,

1022 W. Morena Blvd., Ste. H, San Diego. Learn three ways to get an image on a screen, what kinds of images go well on screens and how to print with more than one color. We will also cover pigments and inks and the pros and cons of each. Space is limited, visit www.MakerPlace.com or call 619-225-7288 for registration and information.

Thru Sept. 3n U.S. Sand Sculpting Challenge and 3D Art

Exposition – “B” Street Cruise Ship Terminal Pier, Downtown San Diego. For information, visit www.USSandSculpting.com.

n 2012 Festival of Sail - Maritime Museum of San Diego will transform the North Embarcadero into a nautical theme park. More than twenty tall ships and other fascinating vessels from around the world will visit San Diego. The Festival of Sail will be located along the North Embarcadero between Ash and Grape Street. For tickets and information, visit www.sdmaritime.org.

Sept. 4, 11, 18 & 25n Pajama Storytime - Mission Hills Branch Library,

6:30-7:00 pm. Children are invited to an evening of story time with books and possibly singing and puppets. Feel free to come dressed in your pajamas, For information, call 619-692-4910.

Sept. 5n Long Arm Quilting 3. 6:30 - 8:30 p.m., MakerPlace,

1022 W. Morena Blvd., Ste. H, San Diego. Learn the final how-to techniques of quilting (how to cover your tracks). We will cover templates, transfers, tracing tools and techniques and much more! Space is limited, visit www.MakerPlace.com or call 619-225-7288 for registration and information.

n The Sky Tonight: Investigate the existence of Extrasolar Planets - Astronomers have discovered planets around other stars, referred to as extrasolar planets. Join us to learn about these solar systems

as well as get an update about Mars Curiosity from Resident Astronomer Dr. Lisa Well. 7:00 p.m. and 8:15 p.m., Reuben H. Fleet Heikoff Dome Theater.

Sept.5, 6, 12 & 13n Center for Jewish Culture presents: Who Wrote the

Bible: A Melton Sampler. For more information, call 858-362-1150 or visit www.sdcjc.org.

Sept. 5, 12, 19 & 26n LEGO Playtime - Mission Hills Branch Library,

5:00-6:00 pm. Kids can have fun and get creative while building with LEGOs. For information, call 619-692-4910.

Sept. 5, 12, 19, 26 & Oct. 3n Copper Enameling Workshop – A Five-part Series.

6:00 – 9:00 p.m. MakerPlace, 1022 W. Morena Blvd., Ste. H, San Diego. This class will teach the ancient art of fusing glass to metal. Creative projects may include jewelry, wall art, bowls, etc. Space is limited. Visit www.MakerPlace.com or call 619-225-7288 for registration and information.

Sept. 6n Mission Hills Book Group - Mission Hills Branch

Library. 10:00-11:00 am. We will read Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey. New members are always welcome to attend and participate! Please read the book beforehand. Copies of the book are available at the Circulation Desk while supplies last. For information, call 619-692-4910.

n 2nd Annual 2012 Stars and Strikes Celebrity Bowling Event. 5:30 p.m., East Village Tavern & Bow, 930 Market Street, Gaslamp District. For tickets and information, visit www.iveducationalfoundation.org.

n Hiring Our Heroes – Recruit Military Veterans Career Fair San Diego. 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., Liberty Station’s NTC Promenade @ Corky McMillin Companies Event Center, 2875 Dewey.

Sept. 7 & 8n “Provacation and Divulgence” - Visionary Dance

Theater. 7:00 p.m., 10th Avenue Theater, 930 Tenth Avenue, San Diego. For tickets and information, visit www.visionarydancetheatre.org.

Sept. 7, 14, 21 & 28n Preschool Storytime - Mission Hills Branch

Library. 10:30-11:00 am. Children are invited to a fun story time with books and possibly singing and puppets. For information, call 619-692-4910.

Sept. 8n United Healthcare presents: In Concert for

Cancer with Funk Legends The Family Stone and opening act, Jeff Lorber Fusion, featuring Eric Marienthal. 6:00 – 10:00 p.m., USS Midway Museum, 910 North Harbor Drive, San Diego. For tickets and information, visit www.scripps.org/inconcertforcancer or call 425-486-7470.

n “Strut for Sobriety” - Luncheon, awards ceremony and fashion show. 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina, 1380 Harbor Island Drive. The eighth annual event will honor local and national leaders for their efforts in reducing the stigma associated with addictive illness. For tickets and information, call 619-670-1184 or email [email protected].

n Saturday Science Club for Girls: Renewable Energy at the Fleet. Must pre-register by calling 619-238-1233 x806. 12/noon to 2 p.m.. For information, visit www.rhfleet.org.

Sept. 9n Villa Musica presents: Creative Aging Program

Launch. This will give our participants’ minds and bodies the opportunity to stay vivacious, verdant, and vibrant! This program will include: Sally’s Symphonies, Sing-A-Long and Zumba Gold. Come experience a free taste! 2:00-4:00 pm. For information, visit www.villamusica.org.

n Grandkids are invited to bring their grandparents to celebrate National Grandparents Day at the Fleet with FREE admission. Come join us for some hands-on fun in our eight interactive exhibit galleries. For information, visit www.rhfleet.org.

Sept. 10n Lawrence Family JCC, Jacobs Family Campus

- Staged Reading: “Hermanas.” Explores relationships, independence and the often hilarious complications sparked by the blending of languages and cultures. For tickets, contact Alex at 858-362-1362 or email [email protected].

Sept. 12n Hausmann Quartet Performance - Part One:

Open Rehearsal, 4:00 pm., FREE. Part Two: Pre-Concert talk, 6:00 pm, FREE. Part Three: Concert, 7:00 pm. Three events in one day! Neurosciences Institute Auditorium. For information, visit www.villamusica.org.

n 2nd Annual San Diego’s Business Mixer and Expo - Offers businesses and entrepreneurs an opportunity to network during an evening of fun with business people representing scores of industries and companies in and around San

Diego. 5:00 – 9:00 p.m. Light hors d’oeuvres and wine tasting are part of the evening’s fun. Tickets are available on www.eventbrite.com.

Sept. 13n International Bipolar Foundation presents their free

mental health lecture series with guest speaker Dr. Ken Druck on “Grieving through the Living Losses of Bipolar Disorder”. 5:30 – 7:00 p.m., Sanford Children’s Research Center (Bldg 12), 10905 Road to the Cure, San Diego. RSVP to [email protected]. Event and parking are free.

n 8th Annual Chef Showdown - Competing chefs will be divided into two teams and will be given a secret ingredient to use to create eight dishes from 6:00 to 9:00 pm, NTC Promenade, Point Loma. For tickets and information, call 858-272-5777, ext. 120.

n Liberty Toastmasters Club presents: Tall Tales Contest. 7:00 PM, St. Paul’s Community Care Center, 328 Maple Street. Admission is free. Tall Tales are 3 to 5 minute speeches about events that are highly improbable and often humorous. The meeting room is in the back of the facility next to the parking lot. For information, visit www.libertytoastmasters.org.

Sept. 15n I love a Clean San Diego presents: 28th Annual

Costal Cleanup Day! 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon. Volunteers needed. For information and to register, visit www.cleansd.org.

n Book Sale - Mission Hills Branch Library. 9:30 am-12:30 pm. Come by and stock up on books while supporting your Library! For information, call 619-692-4910.

n Children’s Craft Time - Mission Hills Branch Library. 10:00 a.m. to noon. Kids can enjoy a fun craft time. For information, call 619-692-4910.

Sept. 15 & 16n Coronado Art Walk 2012- See the works of 113

artists from around the country at the Coronado Ferry Landing. Admission is free for this family-friendly event. Musical entertainment, hands-on art activities and a free shuttle bus to other Coronado sites will be available both days from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For information, call 619-437-8788 or visit www.coronadoartwalk.org or www.coronadohistory.org.

Sept. 16n 7th annual UH Arts Open/Taste of University

Heights, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., “Will Call” location: 3rd Space-4610 Park Blvd. A self guided walking tour of over 18 delectable delights showcases mouthwatering cuisines from prominent and diverse restaurants and eateries. Free shuttle service escorts guests along the route. Limited tickets are available at 619-297-3166.

Sept. 16 - 21n San Diego Restaurant Week! Foodies will

eat their way through over 180 participating restaurants that will offer three-course prix-fixe dinner menus and/or two-course prix-fixe lunch menus. This countywide affair gives foodies the chance to explore tasty treats from the beaches to downtown and from North County to South Bay. For information, a complete list of restaurants or to make reservations in advance, visit www.SanDiegoRestaurantWeek.com.

Sept. 18n Composting 101 with Deborah Austin of Austin

Design-Landscape-Garden-Leisure. Teaching an easy way to start home composting. 6:00 – 7:00 pm, Toma Sol Café, 301 W. Washington St., San Diego. Speaker is working towards completing 30 volunteer hours to receive her master composting certificate.

n Free. RSVP to [email protected], seating is limited.

n The 20th Star Awards - San Diego Performing Arts League will honor volunteers from performing arts organizations throughout San Diego County. 7:30 p.m., Lyceum Theatre, 79 Horton Plaza, San Diego. For tickets and information, call 858-381-5595 or visit www.SDArtsTix.com.

Sept. 19n Walk. Bike. Move. Live. - A San Diego Mayoral

Debate. Voters will have the chance to engage mayoral candidates on improved transportation, sustainable economic development and growth and quality of life for all San Diegans. 6:30 – 9:00 p.m., University of San Diego Shiley Theatre, 5998 Alcala Park. For tickets and information, visit www.walkbikemovelive2012.eventbrite.com.

Sept. 20n Project KEPPT Pet Food Bank - San Diego

Humane Society and SPCA – 1:00 -3:00 p.m. at 5500 Gaines Street, San Diego. Contact [email protected], call 619-299-7012 ext 2907 or visit www.sdhumane.org for program qualifications and details.

CalendarSept. 20 – Nov. 28n Aerial Silks Workshop at Malashock Dance, 5:00

to 6:00 p.m. Join us for a 10-week session and learn basic aerial silk skills in a small group workshop environment. The workshop culminates in a group piece that will be performed at the Malashock Dance Winter Showcase. Enrollment is limited; reserve your spot today 619-260-1622.

Sept. 22 - 23n The International Folk Dancers of Balboa Park

presents the 55th Annual Oktoberfest at the Balboa Park Club (next to the Puppet Theatre). The free event is open to the public from 1 to 4 p.m., Sat., Sept. 22, and 12:30 to 5 p.m., Sun., Sept. 23; and includes dancing, dance lessons, handmade craft vendors, vintage resellers, children’s activities and more. For information, call 619.422.1584 or [email protected].

Sept. 22 – Dec. 8n Teen Producers Project – 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.,

Media Arts Center San Diego, 2921 El Cajon Blvd., North Park. Teens 14 – 18 will learn the key principles of film making and will learn how to make short, 2-3 minute digital stories and much more. Visit www.mediaartscenter.org/upsomingtpp or call 619-230-1938 to register.

Sept. 23n Robin Henkel Band with Horns! Blues & Jazz

Concert at 8 p.m. for all ages at Lestat’s, 3343 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. For information, call 619-282-0437.

Sept. 26n Mission Hills Mystery Book Group - Mission

Hills Branch Library. 6:30-7:30 pm. We will discuss Shell Games by Mark Russell and Southland by Nina Revoyr. New members are always welcome to attend and participate! Please read the books beforehand. Copies of the books are available at the Circulation Desk while supplies last. For information, call 619-692-4910.

Sept. 27n How to Build and Maintain a Better Butterfly

Garden - Butterflies are among our most beautiful pollinators. In addition to their pollination duties, they bring color, interest and magic to our gardens. 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., El Prado Building , Balboa Park. For information, call 619-232-5762.

Sept. 28n “Rendevous a Paris” - Music from Ravel, Jolivet,

Poulenc, Dutilleux and a San Diego premier of Maurice Emmanuel’s trio for flute, clarinet and piano. 7:30pm, The Great Hall at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, 2728 Sixth Avenue, Uptown San Diego. To purchase tickets, visit www.brownpapertickets.com/80111. For information, call 619-231-3702 or visit www.camarada.org.

n Vivat! Music for an English Coronation - Marking the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. 7:30 p.m.,

n St. James by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, La Jolla. For tickets and information, call 619-341-1726 or visit www.bachcollegiumsd.org.

Sept. 29n Vivat! Music for an EnglIsh Coronation

- Marking the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. 7:30 p.m.,

n San Diego History Center (new venue), Casa de Balboa, Balboa Park. For tickets and information, call 619-341-1726 or visit www.bachcollegiumsd.org.

n 10th Annual “Starry, Starry Night Gala” benefitting Voices for Children, 5:00 p.m. at Rancho Valencia Resort in Rancho Santa Fe with hosted bar, hors d’oeuvres, entertainment, “high-tech” silent auction with BidPal, a stellar dining experience and Fund-A-CASA auction. For tickets and information, call Kristen Kurtz at 858-598-2222 or [email protected] or visit www.ssn2012.org.

Sept. 29 & 30n Trolley Dances 2012 - Jean Isaacs San Diego Dance

Theater’s Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Season. Hop on board and travel to four stops along the MTS Trolley line featuring six all new one-of-a-kind dances... right before your eyes! 2-hour tours leave every hour from 10 am - 3 pm. For details and tickets, visit www.sandiegodancetheater.org.

n Six Annual Sleepless America San Diego - Liberty Station. The event begins at 3:00 p.m. Saturday and ends Sunday morning at 7:00 a.m. This all-night sleep out raises awareness of homelessness, educates San Diegans on ways they can help those on the streets, and generates funds to help thousands of local homeless men, women, and children put their lives back together. To register, visit www.sleeplesssandiego.org.



23Classified

Commissioned sales position for print, video

and website ads.Join an exciting team and rapidly

growing company.Sales experience preferred.

Call 619-481-9817

Need a helping hand? Seniors, Children, Pets, House

Sitting & MoreGreat references and experience.

Call Mr. Tom at 619-885-9605

AD SALES POSITION

•

•

•

•

CAREGIVER SERVICES

HairstylistWanted:

Day Spa & Salon.

Friendly Atmosphere. Located near USD.

Booth Rental $125/wk.

Call Lana: 619-743-8201.

• •HAIR STYLIST

Voices for Children is determined to help each and every child in

San Diego’s foster care system. Meeting this ambitious goal means a CASA

volunteer for every foster child who needs one. It means we must have the community’s help.

It means we need you.Become a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)

and make a difference in the life of a foster child.Go to www.speakupnow.org

or call 858-598-2235 for location.

Grace Lutheran Church and Preschool

Our website is: www.gracesandiego.com

Sunday School and

Bible Study is at 9:00 a.m.

The Divine Service is at 10:00 a.m. and a Wednesday evening Communion

service at 6:00 p.m.

Grace Lutheran Preschool6 months to Pre-K directed by Rexanna Blas

Mission Hills Branch Library September 2012 Events

Pajama Storytime9/04, 9/11, 9/18, 9/25 (Every Tuesday) 6:30 to 7:00 p.m. Children are invited to an evening storytime

with books and possibly singing and puppets. Feel free to come dressed in your pajamas.

LEGO Playtime9/05, 9/12, 9/19, 9/26 (Every Wednesday) 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.

Kids can have fun and get creative while building with LEGOs.

Mission Hills Book Group09/06, 10:00 to 11:00 a.m.

The Mission Hills Book Group will discuss “Riders of the Purple Sage” by Zane Grey. New members are always welcome to attend and participate! Please read the book beforehand. Copies of the book are available

at the Circulation Desk while supplies last.

Preschool Storytime9/07, 9/14, 9/21, 9/28 (Every Friday) 10:30 to 11:00 a.m.

Children are invited to a fun storytime with books and possibly singing and puppets.

Book Sale9/15, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The Friends of the Mission Hills Branch Library will hold a book sale. Come by and stock up on books

while supporting your Library.

Children’s Craft Time9/15, 10:00 am-noon

Kids can enjoy a fun craft time.

Mission Hills Mystery Book Group9/26, 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.

The Mission Hills Mystery Book Group will discuss “Shell Games” by Mark Russell and “Southland” by

Nina Revoyr. New members are always welcome to attend and participate, Please read the books

beforehand. Copies of the books are available at the Circulation Desk while supplies last.

Mission Hills Branch Library925 West Washington Street

San Diego, CA 92103 • 619.692.4910 www.tinyurl.com/missionhillslibrary



Directory

Put Your Name In Front of 35,000 Potential Customers! For more information, call (619) 296-8731

Civic CalendarHillcrest1st Tuesday

UPTOWN PLANNERS Joyce Beers Hall in Uptown Mall. 6:30 p.m.

1st ThursdayUPTOWN PARTNERSHIP3101 Fifth Ave. Call (619)298-2541. 4:30 p.m.

Thursdays 7 - 8:30 pmSAN DIEGO UPTOWN ROTARYCLUB The Uptown Rotary Club has moved to their new home at Jimmy Carter’s Mexican Cafe, 3172 Spruce at the corner of 5th. Breakfast meetings are held every Thursday 7 to 8:30 a.m. Guests are welcome to attend a meeting to learn how to become part of this dynamic organization and see why their motto is “Service Above Self.” For information, visit www.sdurotary.org or call 619-894-0140.

Kensignton-Talmadge2nd Wednesday

KENSINGTON-TALMADGE PLANNING COMMITTEEKensington Community Church. 6:30 p.m.For information, call (619) 284-0551

Linda Vista2nd Monday

LVCPC Agenda– LINDAVISTACOMMUNITYPLANNING COMMITTEE AGENDALinda Vista Library meeting room.Contact Jeff Perwin at 1-619-806-9559 for details 6 pm.

3rd TuesdayTech Committee - Technology Committee Bayside Community Center. Contact Xiongh Thao for detail at (858) 278-0771 or email [email protected] or [email protected] or visit our website www.lindavistaSD.org.

3rd WednesdayLV Historical– LINDAVISTAHISTORICALCOMMITTEE Bayside Community Center. This committee is collecting his-torical photos, documents and memories of Linda Vista’s past. For more information, contact Eleanor Frances Sennet at (858) 277-3817. 4 p.m.

3rd WednesdayLVCollab– LINDAVISTACOLLABORATIVE Bayside Community Center at 3 pm. Contact Adriana Gallardo at 858-278-0771or [email protected]. For details. Visit the website www.lindavistacollaborative.org

3rd Wednesday (Odd Months)TCCAC– TECOLOTE CANYON CITIZEN’SADVISORYCOMMITTEE Tecolote Nature Center. Contact Eloise Battle for details. 7 p.m.

3rd TuesdayLinda Vista Town CouncilBaha’i Faith Center Alcala Knoll DriveContact Thomas Kaye 858-277-6973 at 6:30 pm

4th MondayLVCPC– LINDAVISTACOMMUNITYPLANNING COMMITTEELinda Vista Library Meeting Room.Contact Ed Cramer at (619) 222-2047 for details. 7:00 p.m.

4th WednesdayLVPC – Linda Vista Planning Committee monthly meeting.Linda Vista Library Meeting Room at 6 pm. Contact Jeff Perwin 619-806-9559 for details, minutes and agenda at www.LindaVistaSD.com.Linda Vista ViewLinda Vista Town Council Community NewsletterContact Thomas Kaye at 858-278-6973

Various WednesdaysLVNewsletter– LINDAVISTAVIEW Civic Association Community Newsletter. Bayside Commu-nity Center. Contact Sarah Granby at (858) 405-7135 or e-mail [email protected]. 2:00 p.m.

Mission HillsSeptember 26

Mission Hills Garden Club This meeting will showcase Mike Mathews from The Audu-bon Society speaking on “Avian Angels and Devils in your Garden.” Meetings are at 4070 Jackdaw from 6 to 8 p.m. Guests pay $10.00; members are free. For information, visit www.missionhillsgardenclub.org.

Ocean BeachOCEAN BEACH PLANNING BOARD Ocean Beach Recreation Center, 4726 Santa Monica Ave. Call (619) 523-1700. 7 - 9:30 p.m.

4th WednesdayOCEAN BEACH TOWN COUNCIL Ocean Beach Recreation Center, 4726 Santa Monica Avenue. Call Jere Battan at (619) 515-4400 for information. 7 p.m.

Point LomaPoint Loma Garden Club For events and meetings this month visit www.plgc.org.



25All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin, or an intention, to make any preference, limitation or discrimination.” Familial status includes children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians; pregnant women and people securing custody of children under 18. This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of this law. Our readers hereby informedthat all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis. To complain of discrimination call HUD Toll-Free at 1-800-669-9777. The Toll-free telephone number for the hearing impaired is 1-800-927-9275

Real Estate

Real Estate

Show Your Listing Here!Put Your Name In Front of 35,000 Potential Customers! For more information, call (619) 296-8731

Call Drew Chance DRE-01913042 • 619-962-5976

Coronado

$599,000

ACTIVE

333 Orange Ave # 21Completely remodeled condo in The Commo-

dore new hardwood floors, crown molding, brand new kitchen with granite countertops,

new granite topped vanities & travertine finished bathrooms & partial views of downtown.

Fallbrock

$319,000


PENDING

3512 Lake Shore AveCome take a look at this lovely 2 story, 4

bedroom, 2.5 bath family home with Fireplace and large fenced yard and easy access to 15 freeway! Great location with view of the hills

and archway bridge.

2743 Amulet StRV parking on site! Property has additional Sq.

footage! 10 minutes away from: Downtown, Mission Valley, beaches. Granite counters in kitchen, amazing

dark wood laminate floors, walk-in master closet, drought tolerant landscaping, & an extra bonus room

Serra Mesa

$398,000


ACTIVE

Call Lisa Mortensen, Agent DRE #00583530 at (619) 818-5566

230 W Laurel St # 603 Desirable, west-facing, 6th floor unit at Brittany Tower

with lovely bay, ocean,& Point Loma views. Condo has very spacious rooms & functional floor plan. Eat-in

kitchen. In addition to master bedroom closet, additional walk in closet in master bath. Dual vanity sinks, sepa-rate stall shower & tub in master bath as well. There is

an operable window in master bedroom.

Bankers Hill

$492,900

Call James Hardy, Agent DRE #01076819 at (619) 204-9511

3502 Pringle St # 305Top floor unit with stunning panoramic views of the down-town skyline to Point Loma, including the San Diego bay & the Pacific ocean. Unit has wood floors, stacked washer/

dryer in unit, a large covered patio, newer upgraded kitch-en with granite counter tops, & matching stainless steel

appliances. The master bedroom has an exceptional view. Two parking spaces in the best location, & extra storage.

Mission Hills

$350,000

Call Lucy A. Neale, Agent DRE #912709 at (619) 889-8807

4379-83 Maryland StThree awesome units in heart of desirable University Hts. Walk to neighborhood hub of ethnic restaurants, wine bar, coffee houses & park concerts. House (4381) is a 3br/1ba craftsman w/hardwood

floors, formal dining room w/built-ins, large remodeled kitchen, laun-dry, forced air heat. All rooms have ceiling fans. Duplex units have

dual pane windows, remodeled kitchens & baths w/ tons of storage. Tenants share laundry room. Parking for 5 cars behind the duplex

University Heights

$799,000

Call Lucy Abernathy, Agent DRE #815301 at (619) 203-7222

645 Tyrone StreetUnique, artistic home in an enchanting garden setting. Tudor exterior &

English country gardens outside with a combination of cool Mediterranean blues & dazzling south of the border colors inside. This is a home you have

to see to appreciate. 4 bedrooms & an amazing office space with its own en-trance, or 5 bedrooms, or 3 bedrooms + a great office & a good sized family

room—this home can suit all your needs. The Trex deck perfect for al fresco dining/entertaining dramatically increases your living area.

Fletcher Hills

$519,000 $519,000

Call Jennifer Armitage, Agent DRE #01365880 at (619) 723-8479

2548 Katherine Ct Currently set up as two separate living areas. House is move in ready. Perfect for an extended family living situation. The two

units are separated by a door so it could easily be opened back up to be one large house. Upstairs has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths,

washer & dryer, dishwasher, trash compactor & gas fireplace in the family room. The downstairs has 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, gas

fireplace in family room, dishwasher, washer & dryer.

Fletcher Hills

$475,000

Call Greg Glassman, Agent DRE #877550 at (619) 981-2745

6237 Village Green Dr Charming, beautifully maintained home is move-in ready. Light,

modern 3 Bdrm, 3 Ba home w/downstairs office that can convert to 4th Bedrm. Gourmet kitchen w/ Santa Barbara granite, Beech wood cabinetry, GE Profile appliances, 5 burner gas stove & desk area.

Spacious master bedroom & bathroom with his & hers walk-in clos-ets. Two upstairs bedrooms share jack-and-jill bath. Energy-efficient

amenities include low e2 rated windows, water heater.

Carlsbad

$599,000

3 bedroom 2 bath with pool, A/C and updates galore.

Views and on a cul-de-sac. See more details at

www.SDHomePro.com

JONATHAN SCHWEENWEISSJ.D., LL.M. President

Voted in San Diego Magazine’s, “Best in Client Satisfaction,” 2008 -2012

DRE# 01378508

619-279-3333

South Park

$775,000

NEW

LISTIN

G

Maureen and Antoinette Coldwell Banker

Residential Brokerage

619-800-1103

Marston HillsSpacious and highly updated home on a quiet

cul-de-sac in Marston Hills. Over 2,450 sq. ft on a canyon, close to hiking trails and Balboa Park. Lovely kitchen and baths, nice floor plan, 2 car

garage, French doors out to back yard. Coming soon--please call for more details.

Coming Soon

NEW

LISTIN

G



619-574-5138maureen

antoinette

This 3 bedroom 2.5 bath charmer directly across from Morley Field is not your Grandma’s old Spanish.! Gracious interior, ultra-private tropical backyard designed to cele-

brate today’s indoor/outdoor lifestyle. Access to the many activities, including dog park, tennis, swimming, disc golf,

children’s park, velodrome and much more.

Park-Front Morley Field

New Listing!

$965,000



619-800-1103

$949.000

Balboa Park



619-574-5138maureen

antoinette

Enjoy one of the most spectacular vantage points in all of Downtown San Diego from this 33rd floor residence with north and west views of the bay, ocean, Downtown and Point Loma! Two bedrooms plus den or office, gleaming hardwood floors,

west facing balcony. Residents enjoy full services in the building including gym, sauna, steam, pool, and Jacuzzi.

The Grande North

Just Listed!

$1,079,000



619-800-1103

Downtown

Thank you for reading!- Presidio Communications

Serving the Heart of San Diego | A Publication by Presidio Communications

Volume 13, No. 8


September | 2012

Over the last several months I have been observing via social media the work related activities of Stacey Blanchet, who is based in Pacific Beach, Calif. She is a busy lady with a lot of projects all happening simultaneously. Her primary business, Your Girl Friday, provides marketing, public relations and other management and customer-oriented services for 45 regular clients.

Reaching for the Stars and Getting Gold Local Business Woman Makes Major Stridesby Patty Ducey-Brooks

Continued on pg. 8

My Mother’s Italian... Tequila Trail Alpaca CelebrationCoronado Art Walk 14 1552

Understated Elegance

Scott & Quinn has three offices, in Mission Hills at 1111 Fort Stockton Drive, in Normal Heights at 30th and Adams Avenue, and in South Park at 2973 Beech Street. The company also features Scott & Quinn Property Management. Founded in 1982, Scott & Quinn is the oldest full service real estate firm in Mission Hills and is still locally owned and operated. Jim has been a homeowner in Mission Hills since 1976. Jim’s past Market Reports dating from 1997 are on the company web site at www.sqre.com. You can blog Jim at www.aboutjimscott.com.

Call Jim Scott, Broker, DRE #830226, 619-920-9511

Demure exterior, gorgeous interior. Understated elegance on an A+ street in North Mission Hills. Exquisite single level 3 bedroom, 3 bath 2,042 sq ft home with hardwood floors. Both the beautifully redone kitchen and the large traditional dining room open onto a fabulous private brick courtyard. The spacious master bedroom features a trav-ertine master bath with separate tub and shower. Every detail has been thought of—from the accent lighting in the crown moldings in the dining room to the kitchen design with separate work areas including dual ovens and sinks. This home exudes comfort and quiet elegance. Call Rocky Rockhill, Agent (DRE#01197738) at 619-972-3033

www.4343AltamiranoWay.com

North Mission Hills4343 Altamirano Way • $1,150,000

Stacey Blanchet at her mother’s home in Pacific Beach.

presidio sentinel, september 2012

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