Month: March 2009

Things are tough all over. Everyone is downscaling, even drug-dealing scalawags. Today, while walking towards my watercolor class, I saw a desperate Haight Ashbury pusher, frantically attempting to sell a single pill!! He was standing there, fidgeting, near Golden Gate Park, failing to stir up any interest from passersby. “Pill for sale!” he exclaimed. “Pill! Pill! Pill!” http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

I get tons of messages into this blog from readers doing all kinds of interesting things: writing and publishing books, working on farms, starting their own businesses, traveling all over the world, etc. I’m hoping to (eventually) put together a quick little “digest column” in which I will put the spotlight on you, the readers. If you want to take part in this, send me a little bio and a brief, colorful description of what you are up to. If I get a sufficient number of participants, I will put this column together at some point next month. http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Many thanks for yesterday’s email avalanche. Will make sure to get back to all of you as soon as I can! http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Family and friends: (I know you check this blog pretty regularly.) send me an email and call me when you see this. We have great news. (I’m sure you all know what it is by now, but the Big Day has arrived!) http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

It’s official; On April 18th, I will lead a hike through Santa Cruz’s beautiful Pogonip meadow, with stops for memoir and nature-writing exercises, in a special “Hike and Write” event sponsored by Bookshop Santa Cruz.A bunch of you contacted me in advance about this. If you would like to join me, make sure to register in advance through Bookshop Santa Cruz. There are a limited number of spaces. When you are registering, Bookshop will give you all the additional information you need, including the specific time and directions to the meeting place. Looking forward to meeting and walking with you (and, of course, seeing and hearing your writing) http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

A few months back, we talked about the importance of bringing a high-quality leak-proof pen with smear-proof, water-resistant ink and a good journal with thick, absorbent paper for travel writers. In fact, you might even consider bringing a pencil instead of a pen because pencil lead won’t run, and you can even write in pouring rain. Well, here’s my latest piece of advice: make sure to store all your travel notes in a very safe place, even if you won’t be using them for a long while. I learned this lesson the hard way when I stored two notebooks containing Pacific Crest Trail notes about Oregon and Washington. Absentmindedly, I decided to store them in a leaky shed out in Santa Cruz during the El Nino storm year — and the water dripped all over them!!! Now, dozens of pages of trail notes about Oregon and Washington are covered with…