Unsolitary Confinement and Other Considerations in the Age of Coronavirus
By Les Firestein   |   May 14, 2020

You’ve gotta give it up for humans. With the exception of the Dark Ages, we’re always trying to figure out better ways to nest and adapt those nests to what life throws at us. But how we shelter has never had to absorb so much change… or so much stuff… so quickly as now. Our […]

The Importance of Building Bridges
By Gwyn Lurie   |   April 16, 2020

Thank you to Montecito realtor, Cristal Clarke, for sponsoring this week’s MJ home delivery. Bringing the MJ to your doorstep (or at least your driveway) is one way we are working to meet the challenges of this moment. Thanks to Cristal Clarke’s support, we are once again able to deliver. I’d also like to give […]

 

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Voting to the Moon and Back
By Gwyn Lurie   |   April 9, 2020

Huge thanks from the Montecito Journal to Maureen McDermut & Associates for sponsoring this week’s home delivery! We are doing everything possible to get to you during this difficult moment! In the blink of an eye, the world has changed. On Sunday evening my daughter wanted takeout from a local Mexican restaurant, but my husband […]

Judgements-Be-Damned
By Gwyn Lurie   |   April 2, 2020

A shout out of gratitude to Realtor Dusty Baker for sponsoring this week’s Montecito Journal home delivery. Hemingway famously said, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter… and bleed.” Which certainly has been true for me on occasion. But on the positive side of the ledger, writing has […]

With TP Scarce, Will the Bidet Finally Make it Across the Pond?
By Les Firestein   |   March 26, 2020

For a smart species, humans can also have bizarre gaps in their logic. For example, the wheel was invented around 3500 BC… but wasn’t affixed to the bottom of luggage till 1970. In a similar brain fart of civilization, people have been duking it out over toilet paper at Costco, when, a few aisles over, […]

Superheroes and the Everyday Heroism of… Waiting
By Gwyn Lurie   |   March 26, 2020

This week we have increased our distribution to 15,000 papers. In the spirit of supporting this challenging time of necessary social distancing, we are pleased to announce that we will be delivering to homes in Montecito, Summerland, and many parts of Santa Barbara. A special thanks to VILLAGE PROPERTIES for making possible this week’s MONTECITO […]

Social But Not Emotional Distancing
By Gwyn Lurie   |   March 19, 2020

I was talking to a young friend on Friday. She grew up in Montecito and is in her sophomore year of college in Santa Barbara. We were commiserating about her school, and my daughters’ local schools, all coming to such an abruptly surreal halt when my friend looked at me and said, “Same thing happened […]

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  • Against All Odds
    By Gwyn Lurie   |   March 12, 2020

    Last week, when Senators Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar suspended their presidential campaigns, you could hear a coast-to-coast collective sigh of female frustration. “Are we ever going to see a woman be elected president of the United States?” I strongly believe we will. But not until (we) women make it so. As Elizabeth Warren said, […]

    My Two Cents
    By Gwyn Lurie   |   January 30, 2020

    By all accounts, Monday night’s candidate debate at Hahn Hall was a rousing success. Over 300 of Montecito’s finest showed up and packed the house to hear First District Supervisor Das Williams and challenger Laura Capps respond to questions from community leaders and to hear the candidates make their case why he or she should […]

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    A Bias for Bias
    By Gwyn Lurie   |   January 23, 2020

    A story you may have missed while you were busy celebrating the holidays was the December 31 closing of the gargantuan (half million square foot) “Newseum” – just steps from the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue – after 11 years and ten million visitors. Various news outlets decried the poignancy and irony of the 450 […]

    Resolving to be More
    By Gwyn Lurie   |   January 9, 2020

    The second week of January has always been important to me because by this time I have broken all my New Year’s resolutions so I can get back to the serious business of enjoying pasta. Someone needs to support Montecito’s myriad of northern Italian restaurants, so I nominate myself. Typically, the third week of January […]

    Loco For Local and a Happy New Year
    By Gwyn Lurie   |   December 26, 2019

    As 2019 comes to an end, I’m choosing to focus on what’s right in front of my nose and how grateful I am that Montecito is my home. Today, seated at Merci near Vons in my favorite corner booth (for which I really should be paying rent – thank you Elizabeth and Stephane), before I […]

    Montecito Takes a Seat at the Table
    By Gwyn Lurie   |   December 19, 2019

    In a little more than 80 days (March 3) we will have the opportunity to vote for, among other things, one of two candidates vying for the First District Santa Barbara County Supervisor seat: the incumbent Das Williams or his challenger, Laura Capps. Why does this election matter to the nine thousand plus residents of […]

    High Net Worth
    By Gwyn Lurie   |   December 12, 2019

    For all of us who live or work in Montecito, the rainy season brings up a still fresh mix of emotions. We’re grateful for the hydration of our mountains as they continue to recover and revegetate. We’re thankful to no longer be in an active drought. But still we struggle with the residual trauma from […]

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