One of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk‘s classic coasters can be yours for just a half a million dollars.
After two decades of thrilling children of all ages, the Hurricane is being sold to make space for a new ride. Officials haven’t said just what the new ride will be but they’ve assured me that it will be incredibly exciting. We’re all waiting with bated breath.
But in the meantime, if you’ve got some cash to spare, your dreams of having a roller coaster in your backyard can come true.
I failed to properly note my six month anniversary of living in California, aka my Californianniversary.
For the most part, I’m glad I made the journey out and am looking forward to lots of exploring this summer. But lately there’s a little part of me that’s homesick too. Mostly I miss friends and family, though many of my loved ones aren’t in New York state anyways. It’s mostly people I miss but there is a small part of me that misses the state itself, perhaps because there is such a marked difference as the seasons move from winter to spring. Or perhaps it’s that certain New York swagger. Who knows? Whatever it is, I’m finding myself identifying with a lot of music lately. Oddly, in a very genuine and unironic way, I’ve been listening a lot to this Neil Diamond classic.
I’ve been especially feeling this sentiment:
Well I’m New York City born and raised
But nowadays, I’m lost between two shores
L.A.’s fine, but it ain’t home
New York’s home, but it ain’t mine no more
That’s kind of how I feel lately, lost between two shores…
A friend who grew up in the area recently introduced me to what she calls “the chicken show,” otherwise known as the egg vending machine at Glaum Farms.
Insert three dollar bills into the machine and you get two dozen cage-free eggs, making it a bargain compared to grocery store prices. But arguably the best part is the animatronic dancing chickens, decked out in seasonal attire, that dance to music for two minutes after you receive your eggs.
I personally think it’s far cooler than this egg vending machine in Japan. If I had a kid, I’d totally take them here to buy eggs. Who am I kidding? I’m almost 30 years old and I was still completely amused by it.
This seems like it should be fairly obvious, but the more information out there, the better, I suppose.
A new study finds that use of methamphetamine during pregnancy can lead to behavioral problems in children, including anxiety, depression and violent behavior.
Meth use is, of course, not a problem that’s unique to Santa Cruz County. However, it does seem to be particularly rampant here, as well as many other parts of the country, to the point where some municipalities have just about declared it epidemic. It’s enough of a problem in Santa Cruz that several organizations decided to form the Santa Cruz Meth Project to raise awareness in the community. I realize it’s a few months old but somehow I previous missed this New York Times/Bay Citizen piece on Anthony Ruffo’s meth problems.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen as many cars with broken brake lights as I have here in Santa Cruz County. It drives me absolutely batty. What is with the broken brake and tail lights?
I hate to pull the “Well, in New York, we…” card, but I’m going to anyways. In New York state, you’re required to have your car inspected every single year. This doesn’t eliminate the problem of broken lights all together, but it does seem to reduce it somewhat.
Is it just me that’s driven crazy by this? Frankly, it just seems dangerous. And when you combine broken tail lights with the tendency to NOT use your indicator when you are going to turn, it just increases my ire. Am I missing something? Is there a reason for this other than to annoy me incessantly?
Blergh.
Sometimes it still amazes me what you can find on the Internet. This, for instance, is a collection of public comments from Santa Cruz city council meetings in 2008-2009.
My colleague Jennifer Pittman has a story today about the new iPhone ad that features a couple taking a road trip from the east coast to Santa Cruz. While there are undoubtedly a number of anachronisms and inaccuracies, namely the fact that the final destination that’s supposed to be SC is actually an image of Big Sure, I find myself liking this ad.
My opinion is a purely self-serving one though, because the ad reminds me a lot of my drive out here last summer. We left from upstate New York, where I had been visiting my parents and friends and where my partner was living, and had to go to Chicago first, where my apartment was, before we could head west. Traveling with a full trailer attached to your car limited our options for doing much other than driving straight, much to my great chagrin. Most of the parts of America we drove through were flat, flat and more flat, but we did manage to find some things along the way. The Bonneville Salt Flats, for instance, were amazing, and the brief detour to Carhenge in Alliance, Nebraska was definitely worth it.
And much like the couple in the ad, we did run out of gas in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, our iPhones weren’t able to get service in the middle of nowhere, leaving us to rely on far less sophisticated means than Siri. On the upside, a kindly priest who’d formerly spent a number of years as a missionary in Papua New Guinea ended up driving by and he helped us with our gas station. It was one of those small little experiences that you will always remember and as great as Siri might be, I think I far prefer our version of finding gas. Still, for all of its possibly faults, this commercial continues to make me smile. Driving across country and winding up in one of the most beautiful places is definitely up there on the list of the best things I’ve ever done.
I’ve heard about this happening in other cities, but had yet to see it myself. I actually stopped my car briefly to look at this lovely yarn-covered tree on Cayuga Street this morning. How lovely!
It definitely put a smile on my face on this very happy Anna Howard Shaw Day.
This just arrived in my Sentinel email inbox today:
“Hello dear.
My name is Miss Maria Bernardo, I wish to ask for your true friendship ,I wil l explain more of my self as soon as i hear from you.Ihave important reasons to contact you and i will like to hear from your open mind and interest.I wish you happy day and may God bless you as i wait your positive respond.”
While I will clearly not be responding, I can’t say I’m not tempted. Let me ponder all the responses I could craft…..
Dear Maria,
I appreciate your kind offer of friendship. I look forward to many long summer days spent creating daisy chains, braiding each other’s hair and frolicking through fields. I assume that the pleasure of your company will come at a cost, though. Shall I wire you my life savings to an unidentified account in Nigeria?
I await your next response with bated breath.
Can’t wait to be BFFs!
-Miss Jessica M. Pasko
