I’ve just returned from the captivating landscapes of North Macedonia, brimming with excitement to unravel the hidden marvels of this Balkan gem. Picture a land where time slows down, where over 50 lakes sparkle like gems against a backdrop of 34 towering mountains, ranking seventh among the 10 most mountainous countries in the world. Traversing […]
Lea más
City of Carpinteria Architectural Review Board Hearing for the Bluffs Resort Project, titled “The Carpinteria Farm, Hospitality and Residential Project,” is scheduled for Thursday, January 25 at 5:30 pm at Carpinteria City Hall. This meeting will be attended by the Citizens for the Carpinteria Bluffs, which is seeking an all-out community support effort to stop […]
Lea más
Work is ongoing along several stretches of Highway 101 between Carpinteria and Montecito. The project team recently received approval to begin work on the Santa Barbara segment between Olive Mill Road and Sycamore Creek. In preparation for the Santa Barbara work, the team scheduled an earlier closure of the southbound San Ysidro off-ramp to avoid […]
Lea másSometimes you idly head downtown to hear a public speaker and end up in Tanzania. It happened to Ivan Rasmussen. “I went to my apartment,” Rasmussen recalls of the fever that gripped him following the event. “I took out my pen and writing pad and got started. By midnight I’d essentially organized a civil rights […]
Lea másCelebrated advocate of the profound healing properties of writing, Dr. Diana Raab will be discussing and signing her book Hummingbird: Messages from My Ancestors at Tecolote Bookshop in Montecito’s Upper Village, and at Summerland’s enchanting and indescribable Sacred Space. “Hummingbird coincides with my 70th birthday, a time when many of us intuitively reflect on our […]
Lea másMontecito’s proximity to Los Angeles has long made our village the jewel in the crown for location scouts seeking blue-chip environs for unforgettable Hollywood classics. And then there is the great Olivia de Havilland’s silver screen zenith and its intersection with Montecito. “They shot Gone with the Wind in Montecito?!” No, you lovable fool. I’m […]
Lea más“Who can turn the world on with her smile…?” Those of us of a certain age hear those lyrics and immediately think of the theme song to The Mary Tyler Moore Show. We propose those words could fit just as nicely as the theme to the life of Maryan Strathy Schall, who turned the world […]
Lea másBeloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother Colleen Kirst passed peacefully into heaven on December 21, 2023, at the age of 99. A brilliant, beautiful woman inside and out, Colleen devoted her life to God, family, country, and community. Colleen’s life history is a classic American story of faith and hard work resulting in success, but she […]
Lea másKaren Louise Morley, of Santa Barbara, went to be with the Lord on December 13, 2023. In recent years, she had fought a long and often painful battle with ocular melanoma, but in her last weeks and days in this world she was peacefully surrounded by family and friends in the light and comfort of […]
Lea más
It might be her breathy and vibratoless soprano that somehow suggests both urgency and a leisurely, steady pace. Maybe it’s her knack for rhymes that never feel forced, or her commitment to a more universal truth in her songwriting. Or her ability to erase any divide between passionate politics and personal songs. Whatever the reason, […]
Lea más
Selah Dance Collective has a slogan that undulates across its website and shows up on the company’s new t-shirt: “No choreography, just vibes.” The phrase came from a post-show comment by a dancer’s spouse about a segment in their latest work, Sound and Smoke, which resonated with Selah founder and artistic director Meredith Cabaniss Ventura. […]
Lea másThe Santa Barbara International Film Festival has its annual Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film on tap in January as part of its pre-festival slate before the 39th festival takes over town February 7-17. Perennially praised actor Ryan Gosling is set to receive the prestigious prize at a black-tie dinner at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara […]
Lea másYou’d be hard-pressed to find a local nonprofit that brought its outsized quest to fruition more speedily than did the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation, which in its six short years of existence has already accomplished two major goals. Heartbroken but determined to make a difference when their young daughter was diagnosed with the rare neurological disease […]
Lea más
Reaching the end of their economic oil producing lifetimes, many of California’s and specifically Santa Barbara’s offshore platforms are in the process of being decommissioned. They can either be fully removed and taken to scrap yards on land, or they can be turned into state-managed artificial reefs through California’s Marine Resources Legacy Act. Why wouldn’t […]
Lea más
During the fall, when it’s hot and dry on the southeast end of Santa Cruz Island, cold, crisp, purple grapes are a must-have fruit on the largest isle off the California coast. It’s also a time for annoying, seemingly perpetual deer flies that seek moisture out of the ears, nose, and eyes. To momentarily escape […]
Lea másHappy New Year. My hope for all of us in the coming months is that we embrace more stories, smart stories, entertaining and transportive stories. I’ve set my reading goals high to bring you even more recommendations. There is power, solace, and joy that comes from books and I think this month I have found […]
Lea másToday’s topic: future physicians and an enviable education. Santa Barbara’s tourists dream about moving here for the great food, beaches, and shops. But as locals we know that one of the best things about living in Santa Barbara is the education available to our children. From world-class extracurriculars at our elementary schools to a country-topping […]
Lea más
HG scored this flea market book: Daisetz Suzuki’s Zen and Japanese Culture – a classic printed in hundreds of languages. This 1959 edition was published by the Bollingen Foundation, known for publishing books of significant impact since 1940. This title has always been of value in the market since its first printing in 1938. In […]
Lea másHappy New Year! Traditionally, a new year is seen as a time for a fresh start. Even if there is no physical significance to this time, it is an opportunity to reflect on where we have been and where we want to go. Many people make resolutions for the new year and, sadly, few last […]
Lea másThe apple is a food synonymous with health: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away!” There are so many varietals now that I have truly lost count, but what I do know is that the apple in all its many forms and varieties is delicious. Crisp, tart, sweet, sour, juicy, red, green, yellow, pink, […]
Lea más