Dan White

You won’t believe this. A woman from Ben Lomond is trying to scalp the $10 tickets to tonight’s sold-out Bookshop Santa Cruz event for $40 a piece. Can you believe that? In Santa Cruz, of all places? Great author and public speaker, and it’s always nice to see that much interest in a literary event. But do scalpers have to wreck everything? http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

I’m posting this one especially for one reader, MGW. This is a photo of “Big Skull II”, bronze, 29.5 in. high, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. And here is my story about an enduring artistic friendship that lasts to this day. I was glad to see that the Hirshhorn Tweeted (is that a verb?) a link to this story so I’ve got a lot of art fans reading this. Couple of other things: thank you to Travis who rescued my five bucks off the ground at Shopper’s Corner (and who somehow knew my name). Also, a reader just sent me a movie about hiking the Continental Divide Trail! Looking forward to seeing it. http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Here is the link to a slide show that accompanies my 36 Hours column. I know one of the people featured in this photo tour of Santa Cruz. Somehow, the fabled River Street sign did not make it into the slide show. Maybe next time? http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Here is my 36 Hours piece on Santa Cruz, with a special emphasis on my own “best kept secrets” — not the kind of stuff you’re likely to find in a guidebook somewhere. If you follow this itinerary, you will eat a lot but you will dance and hike off most of the calories. This article made the Top 10 most emailed stories of the day. Thanks for sending this along. photo by davidcmc58 http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Click here to see it. There’s a big, scary tree behind me. Thanks to MGW for letting me know that the first posted link was messed up. http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

The other day I was walking on Cayuga on the way to the Sweater Tree. Suddenly, lethargy overtook me so I decided to rest on an attractive bench made of burnished red wood. Not only that but the bench was located right next to something that looked vaguely like a water fountain. What could be better? I planned to rest there for a long time. But just when I was about to settle in for my nap, I noticed this sign posted just behind the bench. I am reproducing the actual sign here with no embellishment:“WARNING! Private property. Right to pass is contingent upon your complete release of liability to the property owner for any injury or death occurred. This bench and water fountain may be dangerous to your health from risks of which you may or may not be aware. This bench is in the flight path of commercial…

Is Count Tolstoy an unappreciated long-distance trail hiking guru? Judging from this image, he sure looks the part: the weathered features, the two-pronged frizz beard, the intensity of his gaze, and the loose-fitting shirt that covers his chest and arms so he doesn’t have to wear sunblock. Consider this piece of advice — found more than 1,000 pages into the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation of War and Peace. I think these words will hold you in good stead if you ever find yourself out on the trail, although Tolstoy, in this case, is talking about the French army after the Battle of Borodino. “When a man finds himself in motion, he always thinks up a goal for that motion. In order to walk a thousand miles, a man needs to think that there is something good at the end of those thousand miles. One needs a vision of the promised…

And cryptic messages just for you. Available only at Bookshop Santa Cruz. Stay tuned for guest blogger # 1. http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

The Cactus Eaters (HarperPerennial) was a Los Angeles Times Discovery selection and winner of the Elle magazine readers prize. The book has been reviewed or featured in Salon, Kirkus Reviews, National Geographic, Nextbook, Publishers Weekly, and many other publications. My book can be found at Powell’s Books, Bookshop Santa Cruz, and in bookstores across the country, and was featured in a 2013 HarperPerennial e-book promotion, “Stranger Than Fiction,” also featuring Sarah Silverman’s The Bedwetter and other high-profile memoirs. Here is a hodgepodge of useful links including unexpurgated reviews of the book, which was a San Francisco Chronicle and Northern California Independent Bookstore bestseller and a number-one bestselling travel book on Amazon. It is now available in paperback. Here you will also find related podcasts, related articles and some of my latest adventures on the bottom. There are some oddities, too — I’m featured in a radio program that also features Chuck D of Public Enemy. Alas, I did not get to…

I escaped from my bookstore reading rut by attending a great event on Monday — five contributors (including one editor) reading from the latest CQR at the Capitola Book Cafe. It was a bravura performance, and introduced me to engaging new voices like Caitlyn He and Vanessa Hemingway. http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default