Going to check out our first Tuesday's Blues Days but I wanted to leave folks with this trailer from local filmmaker Don Bernier highlighting the potential pitfalls of urban development. Be on the watch for celebrity cameos of the two and four footed kind.
TRAILER: The Concrete Jungle from Don Bernier on Vimeo.
Showing posts with label Martinez Beavers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Martinez Beavers. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Educating Rita: The Road to Political Advocacy
Back in April I had a surprise Facebook friend request from someone I knew twenty years ago. I had just divorced and took a job at Northrop Corporation, B-2 Division. I held entry level positions, housekeeping, copy center and finally data monitor. Looking back, hindsight being what it is, I can say that my time working with the trainers and engineers in the Integrated Logistics Department was, and continues to be, life altering.
I owe a debt of gratitude to one man, E.L. Wells, who saw something in the girl who copied his documents and offered to teach her how to use a computer. That one skill has opened doors of opportunity that otherwise would have remained closed to a single mother of three with a high school diploma. This was the late 80’s, before Al Gore invented the internet and the world’s knowledge became my pearl. Ernie used to nag me to rent the movie Educating Rita (I have yet to see it) but I understand the parallels.
Long before I learned about keystones I knew about cornerstones and foundations. That is what Ernie gave me and again I am grateful beyond measure. I’ll leave discussions of recent life altering events for another occasion.
The time I spent working around war worn veterans deepened my admiration for our nation’s armed forces and I began grooming my young family for a life of service. Two of my three children enlisted in the United States Navy post 9/11. My emotions have run the gamut between pride and dread ever since. Every day my children were in a theater of war or training their fellow citizens I knew the gnawing fear of not being able to protect them from what the world was willing to throw their way. Not an easy thing for a parent accustomed to slaying the dragons of childhood.
I brought these life experiences with me the day I learned the City of Martinez was seeking a depredation permit for a colony of beavers. Suddenly, like the loosening of the floodgates people were envisioning, I felt the rush of purpose and found something I could protect. I went to bed as someone politically aware and awoke as someone politically active.
I owe a debt of gratitude to one man, E.L. Wells, who saw something in the girl who copied his documents and offered to teach her how to use a computer. That one skill has opened doors of opportunity that otherwise would have remained closed to a single mother of three with a high school diploma. This was the late 80’s, before Al Gore invented the internet and the world’s knowledge became my pearl. Ernie used to nag me to rent the movie Educating Rita (I have yet to see it) but I understand the parallels.
Long before I learned about keystones I knew about cornerstones and foundations. That is what Ernie gave me and again I am grateful beyond measure. I’ll leave discussions of recent life altering events for another occasion.
The time I spent working around war worn veterans deepened my admiration for our nation’s armed forces and I began grooming my young family for a life of service. Two of my three children enlisted in the United States Navy post 9/11. My emotions have run the gamut between pride and dread ever since. Every day my children were in a theater of war or training their fellow citizens I knew the gnawing fear of not being able to protect them from what the world was willing to throw their way. Not an easy thing for a parent accustomed to slaying the dragons of childhood.
I brought these life experiences with me the day I learned the City of Martinez was seeking a depredation permit for a colony of beavers. Suddenly, like the loosening of the floodgates people were envisioning, I felt the rush of purpose and found something I could protect. I went to bed as someone politically aware and awoke as someone politically active.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
General Plan Update Task Force
Last year when I was in Santa Cruz inspiration for a blog struck and suddenly I was on the phone with Go Daddy registering the .com domain name. A year later much has changed; what I envisioned as a launching pad for a book and video with a virtual storefront is morphing into something completely different.
Back in February I learned the City of Martinez would be updating its General Plan. Part of the process included the formation of a task force comprised of 17 individuals representing various interests and geographic areas of Martinez. I expressed an interest and in May I received an email congratulating me on being one of the 17 chosen from a field of 54 applicants.
In the later part of this month our task force will take a field trip to familiarize ourselves with the various elements that make up a General Plan: Land Use, Circulation, Housing, Conservation, Open Space, Noise, Safety and Other Elements. For those familiar with the role I played in the formation of Worth A Dam and the ultimate détente between the City of Martinez and the now world famous ‘Martinez Beavers’ you can probably determine which of these elements are of a special interest to me. That’s why Untamed Martinez still works for a blog/domain name.
But as religious readers of the Martinez News-Gazette know, I do more than hike with my dogs in the hills above the Carquinez Straits or dabble in sales and marketing discussions on Twitter. As in the case of this blog’s focus my community identity has morphed from ‘beaver lady’ to ‘ad lady’. I’m in the trenches with business owners and entrepreneurs; I also carry their voices into this process.
The blog still needs an identity so expect cosmetic changes soon but I’ve learned that when my muse speaks I heed his voice. Waiting until I’ve nailed down my blog design before I begin, oh blogging, is just silly.
Back in February I learned the City of Martinez would be updating its General Plan. Part of the process included the formation of a task force comprised of 17 individuals representing various interests and geographic areas of Martinez. I expressed an interest and in May I received an email congratulating me on being one of the 17 chosen from a field of 54 applicants.
In the later part of this month our task force will take a field trip to familiarize ourselves with the various elements that make up a General Plan: Land Use, Circulation, Housing, Conservation, Open Space, Noise, Safety and Other Elements. For those familiar with the role I played in the formation of Worth A Dam and the ultimate détente between the City of Martinez and the now world famous ‘Martinez Beavers’ you can probably determine which of these elements are of a special interest to me. That’s why Untamed Martinez still works for a blog/domain name.
But as religious readers of the Martinez News-Gazette know, I do more than hike with my dogs in the hills above the Carquinez Straits or dabble in sales and marketing discussions on Twitter. As in the case of this blog’s focus my community identity has morphed from ‘beaver lady’ to ‘ad lady’. I’m in the trenches with business owners and entrepreneurs; I also carry their voices into this process.
The blog still needs an identity so expect cosmetic changes soon but I’ve learned that when my muse speaks I heed his voice. Waiting until I’ve nailed down my blog design before I begin, oh blogging, is just silly.
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