Pomona's Finest

Not sure how many liquor stores have to come and go from the southeast corner of Palomares and Holt before entrepeneurs everywhere realize that corner will no longer support a liquor store or a smoke shop.

The latest venture there was a liquor store catering to the Holt Street crowd that called itself "Pomona's Finest." This always made me laugh (still does since the sign and spiffy red and white paint job remain behind). I always wondered if the business owner meant it to be ironic, or if it just came out that way.

The name worked on several different levels actually, given that Pomona's other Finest (the police) were often out in front of the place questioning people.

Thanks to Daniel Ross for today's photograph of Pomona's Finest. Seems the now deceased business inspired him to write a $75 book entitled Pomona's Finest.

THE END

Rising Prices, Falling Fences in Lincoln Park

A few months back, one of Lincoln Park's Grande Dams (pictured above) sold for a whopping $625,000. While another house that is even more origional inside, is currently on the market for 650 K.

Once sold, the new owners of the one pictured promptly set out to build a large fence around the entire property. But with the usual ying/yang of life, two other fences erected in Lincoln Park since we have lived here were recently taken down: one in the 300 block of E. Jefferson (a white picket L shaped fence) and the other in the 200 block of E. Lincoln (a white vinyl number whose removal I am told was met with applause).

So here's a cheer for houses topping the 600 K mark in Lincoln Park!

THE END

With the Wind In Their Hair

All around Pomona, but especially in the Lincoln Park District, I am noticing kids under 18 years old riding bicycles without helmets on. Of course this includes teenagers, who want to look cool I geuss, but even younger kids are going helmetless.

As a mom, this drives me nuts! Not only does it make me wonder where the parents are (and don't I sound like my parents now), but makes me think the Pomona public schools are not doing a good job of teaching how lifesaving the helmets can be.

Here's the statue on the California Bike Law. What's so cool about it is 75% of the money goes to the County of Education towards awareness programs (which are obviously needed) and some 20% goes to the City where the ticket was given. I'm not sure what percentage of traffic tickets goes back to the City of Pomona usually, but I suspect it's low.

Hopefully a Pomona cop will start noticing all the kids riding around town with the wind in their hair and do something about it.

I really do.

Painting the Town (pink and green?)

Driving down Garey, from a distance, I thought they had erected a retro Motel 6. Once I got closer, it turned out to be the new paint job on the old PFC bank building, now occupied by AMOCA (American Museum of Ceramic Art) and Western University. I love that the arts district is moving closer and closer to Lincoln Park, and that AMOCA has saved that building and the awesome mural inside. But the paint color choice has me puzzled. The green is the same color green as the trim on the YMCA building across the street, Ok, makes sense, I get it. But combining it with two colors of pepto bismo peach? Just not working for me.


Went to the Downtown Arts Walk last night. We had planned to go the the grand re-opening of AMOCA, but it was closed by the time we finished up on Second Street and drove back up Garey. My friends from Long Beach came out for the "Magulandia" art show at the DA. I never would have known about it, but my friends said they read about it in the Times.

Artist Gilbert "Magu" Lujan lived and worked in Pomona (by way of East L.A.), until he died in late July. The show is a fundraiser for his medical and burial expenses. I loved the show, his muscle car sculptures and other Chicano art definitely make me want to take the train to see the metro station he designed at Hollywood and Vine.

This is a nice clip about him:

http://multiamerican.scpr.org/tag/magulandia/

For other info, you can go to the Magulandia site.

The show goes to the end of the month. It will make you proud to be from Pomona too. Motel 6 paint jobs and all!

THE END

And here is the rest of it.

A Secret No More

I am coming out of retirement because my fingers just can not sit still about someone chopping down John Greenlee's secret garden. Minutes ago, I drove down Franklin Street and saw that the once secret garden is well in the midst of being killed. What was once a beautiful meadow by the nationally known "Grass Guru" (a Pomona homeboy/ favorite son!!) is now chopped stumps and dirt. The privacy that was afforded by the large plantings there has been stripped away to expose the nothingness that remains. So Sad!!! Yet another righteous and cool thing about Pomona that has been destroyed. For what?

Hopefully Ren can get us some photoraphs of the destruction, as my guess is that they'll be at it again on Monday...But for now, here's a link to what was once a Pomona beauty.

And now that the secret is out of the bag, to get to the formerly secret meadow, you go down Garey towards the 60 fwy, turn left on Franklin and it's on the left side about 10 houses down. And don't forget to keep an eye out for bamboo house (across the street and closer to Garey), another Greenlee/Simple creation.

THE END

A Bloggers' Wonderland

A reminder that the Pomona holiday parade is this Saturday, December 11, 2010, traveling down 2nd Street in downtown. The various people from the variety of blogs about town, including this goddess and Mr. Big, are going to have an entry. Look for wreaths and trees decorated with computer paraphernelia, lots of blue T-shirts and a banner donning our above-pictured Pomona bloggers union logo (thanks Arts Colonist bloggers).

Here's the line up of Mayor Moochie's most wanted (compliments of Original Skrip):



I'm not too nervous, as there are usually more people IN the Pomona parade than watching the parade. Nevertheless, I need to get back to practicing my smiles and waves to the people along the street who will likely be wondering who we even are.

In any event, I get to check off yet another item from my Pomona wish list: a bloggers float in the parade. About time.

THE END
And here is the rest of it.

Pomona's Charlie Brown Tree Lot

Abandoned Christmas Tree Project
Originally uploaded by m.ariii

I got kind of excited when John Clifford blogged about the ever-deserted gas station at the corner of Alvarado and Garey being a Christmas tree lot this year. This is the only sign of life there in the 7 years we have lived there, unless you want to count the semi-trucks that park there from time to time and the active decay situation with the grounds themselves.

But driving by today on my way to and from Stater Bros., I was kinda disappointed that the tree lot people had not made more of an effort to make the abandoned gas station itself more festive. Aside from a plastic poster of Santa Claus on the front door, the place looks it's same, sad, abandoned self.

I was thinking we would buy a small tree at that lot this year, but if they are going to put that little merry into it, maybe we just go with our original plan of buying a small live tree at Home Depot. Either way, Pomona gets my tax dollars.

And as for the $400 I just paid L.A. County for a speeding ticket for going 44 miles down Towne, well I'm still too mad to blog about that. Just trying to think of it as my Christmas gift to Pomona, should they get some small portion of the proceeds.

THE END

Pomona Hopes Dashed Again

Just caught the Daily Bulletin article on Chivas USA backing out
of being the grand marshals of our upcoming Pomona Holiday Parade. Poor Mona, once again left at the alter. But this made me remember how much energy and spirit came from Snoop Doggy Dog's football league bus that was in the parade last year. Why just settle for the bus with a 10 foot photo of Snoop on the back. Why not ask Snoop to be the grand marshal? EVen tho he's not from Pomona (and was actually a former Claremonter, double-gated La Vernite and now Diamond Barrian), at least he's local and most importantly, I think he'd actually do it. Other recommendations for grand marshal that are more Pomonish:

Sugar Shane Mosely, boxer from Pomona

Jessica Alba, actress from Pomona

Steve Julian, public radio man from Pomona

Pomona Children's librarian Miss Lois (even tho that means we'd miss her on the blogger's float)

The Hughes Bros., Pomona (before their mom did the moving-to-Claremont-thing) filmmakers gone big budget.

Underdog (probably the most doable if we can find someone with a costume)

But if no one asks any of them, it can never be. Here's hoping for a worthy grand marshal to step up to the plate. Aim high, Pomona. I swear it won't hurt when we fall. We're used to it.

THE END

The Quiet Skies of Pomona

I am enjoying the mostly quiet skies over Pomona these days and nights. Seems the budget has grounded the police helicopters for the most part. I honestly thought the helicopter was mostly a scam anyway. I can not tell you how many times I would look for what had happened in the newspaper the next morning and there would be absolutely nothing that warranted the rukus that had been made the night before.

It used to be that within 15 minutes of putting Mr. Big to bed I would hear the copter start up. And Sunday nights, for whatever reason, the bird could be heard without fail.


Another apparent victim of the recession, Montiel's Mattress on Garey, just south of the library, has closed. It has already been replaced by a thrift store. No word yet on whether they sell mattresses. But who needs a new mattress when these quiet nights in Pomona make getting to sleep such a breeze? Perhaps it was these quiet Pomona nights that put Montiel's out of business in the first place.

Of course now I'm hearing helicopters in the distance approaching...

THE END

And here is the rest of it.

Another Pomona Dream Realized?

Driving down Garey, I noticed there is now a kids store downtown, on Garey around 2nd or 3rd Street. Yet another sign of life down town. I even hear that kids are beginning to live downtown. I tend to believe this, since Mr. Big and I met one 8 year old the other day. A real live kid who lives downtown that is. And it's not every day Big meets another kid who has seen movies at the Pomona Fox, bands at Thomas Plaza and

regularly eats at Pho Vi. It kind of seems like a play date is in order, if we ever run into this kid again and if he can fit us into his culturally busy lifestyle downtown. Perhaps they can even go fishing in Lake Pomona once the rain fills it back up. Maybe they'll catch one of Tim Saunders' signs. In Pomona, the possibilities are endless.

THE END

The Case of the Lincoln Park Peacocks

This morning while sitting on the couch, I heard what sounded like a small party horn. Mr. Big, the human party horn, was upstairs at the time, so I knew it wasn't him. When the horn sounded again, I looked out our back window to find a peacock in our backyard. After running upstairs to get Big, we discovered three more circling the house.

We have seen the four roaming peacocks (or peahens, not sure if they spread out all the way) in Lincoln Park for a couple of months now. They are usually in front of Ted Pugh's old Lincoln Park castle. Their presence outside Ted's old place is pretty cool, given his history with peacocks. I'm not sure if the four of them just happened to naturally find themselves at Ted's, or whether they have been purchased by the occupants of Ted's house. We were close enough to the birds today to see that they are tagged, since most of the morning was spent watching the birds hang out around our house. I was suprised that they walked within four feet of us.

At one point, two of the peacocks struck a pose on our front porch wall and the other two were vogue-ing on our first floor roof (in between looking in our sleeping porch windows). And stupid me had to leave both of my digital cameras locked up at work this weekend!!! I know you can photoshop such things, but I am hellbent on getting that perfect picture of them in front of our house. IF they ever come back.

During their two hour visit, I kept thinking how their almost mythical presence really did make me feel like the goddess of Pomona - at least for today - and that maybe I should try harder to figure out what the heck has been going on with this blog.

Here is what I know. About six months ago, I logged on the blog and saw that a photograph of Gumby over a city skyline had replaced my screen photo. I laughed and changed it back, and didn't think much about it. Then a couple months ago, I tried to log in, but I was locked out. Tonight, thanks to the Lincoln Park peacocks, I finally got down to business, figured it out and here I am posting again. I still own goddessofpomona.com, and one day soon (or later) I'll get around to figuring that part out. But for now, I'm too busy feeling graced by peacocks and awaiting their safe return.

THE END And here is the rest of it.

For Whom The Bell Tolls

THE LIBERTY BELL
Originally uploaded by kerrins_giraffe is super busy

Recent events out of Bell, California sound way too familiar and leave me hopeful that the corruption here in Pomona will finally be investigated by an outside agency.

And then there will be liberty and justice for all (and likely jail time for a few).

THE END

Ethan's Growing Legacy for Pomona

Four years and much collective sadness ago, Ethan Esparza was killed in a driveby shooting the day before his 4th birthday, while attending his own birthday party in the front yard of his grandmother's Pomona home.

At the time that it happened, my Mr. Big had celebrated his own 4th birthday just weeks earlier, 8 blocks -and apparently worlds- away, in the front yard of our Lincoln Park home.

Ethan's death triggered lots of talk about enough being enough, and a banding together of local church and community leaders to find a solution. The most visible legacy of Ethan today is the Tri City Community Gardens at 2008 North Garey Avenue in Pomona. Tri City "Victory" Gardens is the lovechild of local cattle farmer Randy Bekendam, who was inspired by Ethan's story.

Garden photos courtesy of the Tri City blog site, unknown photographer. With what I am told was little support from the City of Pomona, Farmer Randy had trouble finding any where that would even allow him to build the gardens. How typical Pomona dysfunctional is that? As a result, the gardens are tucked away; if you blink as you drive up Garey, you will miss them. But if you stop and go inside, you will see an orchard, a succulent labyrinth, various farm plots and sporadic gardeners growing hope amidst the vegetables there.

Truth be told, there has not been overwhelming participation in the gardens by local residents. Other than a few visits there myself, I have not been involved as I thought I would be. One family here in Lincoln Park has been deeply engaged in the gardens, and that is how I have kept informed about what is going on there.

Sadly, changes in staffing at the mental health facility have resulted in young patients not using the gardens for therapy as they once did when it first opened. Recently, however, a woman from nearby Berkeley Avenue laid claim to a plot, which she tends alongside neighborhood children from her violence-prone street.


Over the past couple of months, a group of children have been painting the north wall at the Tri City gardens (see today's photo). The wall painting is part of environmental art classes hosted by Otterspace Arts. Mr. Big attended a class last week. Otterspace Arts is run by two former school teachers, trying to make a difference by bringing the arts back to local children. Check out their class schedule and get on their mailing list here.

No arrests were ever made in Ethan's case, until yesterday, when one man was taken into custody for the murder. The arrest has brought Ethan's story to the forefront once again.

At the garden last week, a large sunflower stood tall and proud in the middle of the vegetable beds (you can see it in the above photo). The sunflower immediately made me think about Ethan. I have no idea if Ethan's family has been to the community gardens that Ethan inspired. I'd like to think that big, beautiful, and oh so hopeful looking sunflower could bring them some needed solace.

If you would like to get involved in Pomona's community garden, Tri City holds work days every first Saturday of the month. If you can't get there in person, you can always go there via youtube. Please note that this video was shot last year, before Pomona's most hopeful sunflower came to life.

THE END

Keep the Police, Can the Council

Monday afternoon my friend called me to say that a bunch of people were going to show up at the city council meeting that night to support the police and would I like to attend? My first reaction to her was that I could think of no bigger waste of time, since the fix was already in. When I first read the discussions (again) on the blogs about the police being replaced by the sheriff's, and read people's earnest reactions, I thought how niave it was for people not to realize that this administration has wanted to do this for awhile (for strictly political reasons) and now they have the economic situation to justify it. Just try to stop that rolling boulder.

I also assured my friend that I have a habit of jinxing things in Pomona: the tree I spoke out to save at the Historical Commission was promptly chopped down with the City's rubber stamp of approval; the historic block of Second Street I blogged against being torn down was knocked to smithereens -- and let's not rewrite history, the newspaper headlines were already doom and gloom about the economy, and there was ample reason to believe the condo complex would not be built anytime soon. Oh and then there's that crosswalk/stop sign I've been trying to get put in on the west side of the park so that I stop seeing cars flying down Palomares and almost-accidents involving children trying to cross into Lincoln Park.

Somewhere along the way I got very jaded. The three council meetings I attended didn't help much either. I walked away not only suspecting the City government here was dirty, but knowing it beyond a doubt.

My poor friend got an earfull just for asking me to come out to the meeting. She probably thought it was an excuse for me to sit on my butt at home and watch Dancing with the Stars. But of course, after Mr. Big went to bed, now that we have cable, I could not resist finding the city station (#29) and watching the meeting on TV for the first time ever. But when I first turned it on, the sound on the station was not working, which seemed as suspicious as a Pomona election if you ask me. Around 11:30 p.m. I tuned in again, this time I saw the face and heard the voice of Greg Estel, my air conditioning guy, talking in support of the police. And then there was Virginia Madrigal (also in support of the police), and a neighborhood guy named Casey, who called the city council "unimpressive" and "evil" in the sense of their not being creative (Amen, I loved him!) and Kendra who has worked the front desk at the Library for years, who questioned a city who could pit their police dept. against their library. And I found myself loving my wonderful city and the wonderful people in it and thinking that this issue would be different, that the fix wasn't in, and the right thing would prevail.

And then councilmen Steve Atchley started to talk. (And I was back to being jaded and fed up.)

P.S. But I was not alone, the cable station decided to switch to other programming just as Steve launched into his "I have 8 children" bit to justify his predictable- if-you-know-even-a-rudimentary-history-of-Pomona-politics position of being "for" the first phase study (which is, of course, code for supporting the whole darn thing.)

All I can say is in Pomona, sometimes it really hurts to give a damn.

THE END

From The Fillmore to the Pomona Fox

Tonight, Owl City played The Fillmore in San Francisco. Tomorrow night, they play at our very own Pomona Fox. It will be Mr. Big's first rock concert. Mr. Big happened upon Adam Young and Owl City, and is completely smitten, so I couldn't resist buying tickets as a Spring Break treat. I have no idea if there will be other 7 year olds in attendance. And I wonder how many others from Pomona will be in the audience. I just know they'll be at least one goddess, one Mr. Big and a whole lot of fireflies filling up the night air tomorrow night at the Fox. I can't wait!

And here is the rest of it.

Goddesses in the Park, the Garden and All About Town

Just a last minute confirmation that yoga (at 10 a.m.), followed by hula hooping will take place at Lincoln Park tomorrow morning for all gods and goddesses who are interested. Suggested donation is $10, but come on out in any event on this or any Saturday in the future. The teacher plans to eventually expand the days and times, and I'll post an update when she does. I don't think even the hooping regulars from a year ago know about tomorrow, so it's your chance to get in on the ground floor.



Speaking of the ground floor, the photo above is the Goddess of Garey Avenue posing on the grounds of my new backyard garden. Okay, so we haven't planted any seeds yet, but doesn't it look like the real deal. My husband and I have been talking about starting a garden forever, read all the books, but it was still intimidating until I hired my very own gardening coach, The Goddess of Garey Avenue, to hold our hand through the process. Ultimately, I hope the fruits of our labor will help us to eat better, be more independent and save money. If you too are in need of a gardening coach to finally get the garden you crave, drop me a line and I can put you in touch with that other Goddess in Pomona. And yes, GOGA's rates are very reasonable.


I am also grateful to Marybeth (the green goddess above) and Todd (former Lincoln Park hoola hoopers) over at Claremont Food Not Lawns for holding their annual Seed Exchange a couple weeks ago. Goddess of Garey Avenue and I got lots of good stuff there and will be putting some seeds in the ground next weekend. Then, at long last, I will officially be living up to my namesake.

Other Pomona goings on this weekend where you might see a Goddess or two? Two Farmer's Markets downtown: one in the morning at Garey and Pearl; the other at night on Second Street as part of the Art WAlk.

THE END

Things to Remember in February besides your red umbrella

Hope no one's getting too excited just because I've posted two times in as many days. Please don't announce my "comeback" Mr. Allen, for you might jinx it again. If I can only figure out how to post from my new upgraded phone, we're really in business (is anyone out there using mobile blogger yet, I keep sending posts but they never make their way to the blog.)

Just some goings on in February besides the rain.


Starting on the next non rainy day in February, there will be ongoing free yoga and hoola hooping by donation in Lincoln Park on Saturday mornings. Bring your hips, your excess weight, your kids, everyone is welcome. Last I heard things were going to start with the yoga at 10, followed by the hoola hooping. Don't worry about the hoop, she'll have amazing professional grade hoops there for you to try out. And as for today's photo, perhaps we should add knitting to the mix too.

Tomorrow will be the Laura Ingalls Wilder Sociable at the Pomona Public Library. We attended a couple times in the past --even met some prairie-house-diehards from South Orange County. That was weird. As is my usual goal, I am going to try to get down there tomorrow, with the motivation being that they will be serving gingerbread cookies from the Pomona Bakery. Which beats the store bought SUGAR cookies from two years ago any day of the week.


The Dickens Festival will be going on in downtown Riverside all weekend, another one of my favorite places, even though the new remodel of the outdoor mall is rather boring. Never gone to the Dickens Festival, but maybe this will be the year. Okay, well probably not. If you do go down there, be sure to check out the used bookstore on the Marriott end of Main Street. I love their funky collection of owls and the great sitting area for the kids. And if you like to look at cool gift stuff, Miss Tigglywinkles (I think I got that right) is worth a peek. Lunch at Simple Simon's is always good and kinda makes me feel like I'm in the Bay Area. (Hopefully Pomona Bakery will be this large one day.)

On Sunday, it's off to downtown to get my hair cut for Haiti for $20 at Savoie on 3rd Street.

And lastly, before I fall off the face of the earth and don't post for another 3 months, I wanted to announce that
there will be a Pirate Band at the Art Walk next weekend. My thanks to Larry Egan over at Metro Pomona for honoring (and remembering) his promise to let me know when the pirate band came back since we missed their last performance downtown. Mr. Big is psyched.

Other than that, see you around campus everyone.

Straight to Video

Last month, we were looking into signing Mr. Big up for Pomona little league. We debated because the rules turn out to be very strict in terms of where you live and where you play. Pomona has two options: a field at Indian Hill and San Bernardino; the other at Ted Greene Park on Orange Grove below Arrow. I geuss you can see where this is going if you read the Daily Bulletin. The problem is that Lincoln Park kids are only allowed to play at the Indian Hill location, and not the Ted Greene Park locale, which is much closer. Husband and I both agreed that the intersection of Indian Hill and San Berdo is like the sleaziest one in Pomona. And actually, that intersection is at the crossroads of Pomona, Montclair and Claremont, so the scene there is a tri-city production. Really, that particular area of town is the only part of Pomona that gives me the eebie geebies (besides Phillips Ranch, of course). So, in the end, we decided to forego baseball this year, since we couldn't play at Ted Greene Park.

So then last week I read about the double homicide shooting at Ted Greene Park last Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in the afternoon.

Then this week, the Pomona City Council, rather than talking about THAT shooting, are talking about a film shooting instead. They have apparently decided to give $13,000 in community redevelopment funds to a film company -- all for the honor of gracing us with their presence to film for a few days. Sometimes it seems like the Council purposely does things to land themselves a spot in David Allen's column, which I suppose is better than the police blotter.


Even 7 year old Mr. Big knows that a friend you buy is not worth having. When some kid recently asked Mr. Big for his chocolate pudding in exchange for being his friend, Mr. Big refused. (Big would never make it in Pomona politics; he likes chocolate pudding too much.) I don't see why Pomona has to bend over backwards on this one. I can see if we are talking an entire film festival, but we are talking about one low budget film.

Even Big can do the math: Pomona's $13,000 would be better spent on hiring a part time recreation director at Ted Greene Park, or improving the sound system at the Fox Theater for next year's Smogdance.

THE END

Chicken versus Pizza

Today's photo is of my favorite tree in all of Pomona (at the corner of Mission and Towne), with a backdrop of Pomona's newest (that I know of) restaurant: Capitan Pollo. This restaurant takes the place of the chinese restaurant that was there before, called "Bamboo" something or other. I haven't tried the place yet, but I have been admiring their posters depicting chicken wrestlers and a chicken bicyclist.

As for other Pomona "restaurants," I only have a short story to add to the discussion about Angelo's Pizzeria. Over the Summer, I attended a Saturday Night Art Walk with a girl friend. We ended up parking on 2nd Street, on the east side of Garey, right across the street from Angelo's Pizzeria. As we were loading our kids into the car to go home at about 8:30 p.m., our attention was drawn to a group of 5 or 6 boisterous men emerging from Angelo's holding up one incredibly drunk woman. She could barely walk, and she had a good 20 years on the guys around her, so I hoped she was one of the surrounding men's mother. Following closely after this group, was a group of fewer men, but also escorting out a lone woman who could barely stand up (this woman was much younger than the first one). I can not remember the last time I saw someone as incredibly out-of-it as these two women. My friend and I got in the car, looked at each other and asked the same question at the same time: "Rohypnal?"

In the midst of getting our little ones in the car, we didn't see what cars these people got into, so it would have been futile to call the police. But the whole scene was disturbing. Even the kids thought something very weird was going on!

So I'm thinking that the next time I want pizza, I'll pick up some of the Capitan's chicken instead.

and p.s. Just to be clear: The Art Walk is a very family friendly event, the incident at Angelo's was NOT in any way related to the Art Walk.

THE END

Just wondering

One closes, another one opens.
Originally uploaded by Miceeatcheese

I see quite a few For Sale signs around Lincoln Park all of a sudden. Some in front of the houses of people I know, but obviously not well enough to know why they are selling. Then I was looking on the MLS for what is for sale in Lincoln Park in general, and saw even more listings of houses (and people) I know here in "the L.P."

I just wonder if the market is turning back around, or whether it's that my neighbors' lives are changing.

As for me, I'll be staying put long enough to plant a real live working garden in our backyard this year, with the help of the Goddess of Garey Avenue of all people. Two goddesses that aren't moving out of the neighborhood quite yet.

THE END

Too much to do this weekend in Pomona

the pumpkin patch by pinhole
Originally uploaded by manyfires

October is my hands down favorite month in Pomona. Always a reminder of why I live here, despite the somewhat hellish summers. October is birthday month around here, as well. Plus - Mr. Big was down with the gunk for a week. So it seems there is never enough time to fit in all-there-is-to-do-in-Pomona-in-October. Claremont should have such problems!

M-M-M-M-y Pomona posted about some of the events this weekend, here's the ones on my calender:

Friday and Saturday at 7:30 - Where the Wild Things Are is playing at the Mission Tiki Drive In.

Saturday and Sunday is the Pumpkin Patch at Cal Poly. Bring a wagon and get the full Harvest experience, plus large pumpkins for $5 a pop.

Sunday is the Historic Home Tour, which starts at the Ebell Theater and covers a handful of old homes throughout Pomona, as well as the Fox Theater.

I never get it together to contact whoever you are supposed to contact about being a docent at one of the tour houses. If anyone reading this knows if they still need help, please drop me a line at goddessofpomona@mail.com. There is usually a preparty to the main event for those in the know, but as I am among the clueless, I can't give you any details.

Enjoy!!

THE END

Planned Visibility

Cross and Sign
Originally uploaded by sirchuckles

For the past couple of weeks there have been protesters outside Pomona Planned Parenthood. This is the first time I have seen protestors there since we've lived here. The Planned Parenthood building was the first thing we noticed as we descended into Pomona from the Garey offramp some six and a half years ago to look at Lincoln Park craftsman homes for sale. Expecting a "Welcome to Pomona" sign, we were greeted instead with... an abortion clinic.

I had the same two questions then as I do now: I wonder how the Planned Parenthood came to open up there of all places? And, whatever your views on abortion, who would feel comfortable going to obtain birth control supplies or procedures at a location so visible? For what it's worth, PPP received two positive reviews on Yelp.com.

To me, it just seems like a case of really poor planning!

My husband has been telling me forever to read about the history of Planned Parenthood, especially as it relates to why you tyically find their clinics in areas of color. I finally did and here's a link if anyone is interested. (Bear with me if the link it not up, as I may not have time to patch it right away. If you're eager, just google the founder of Planned Parenthood.)

Herb Fest Pomona Saturday October 10, 2009

1970 dig in the dirt
Originally uploaded by mquest foto

It is not every day that the Goddess of Pomona receives email from the Goddess of Garey Avenue. But it happened this week for the very first time. The ocassion? To request that I put the word out about Herb Fest to be held this Saturday at the recently burned-and-resurrected Garden nursery. This is the type of thing that is very important to goddesses in Pomona.

Here's the particulars in the words of the goddess who works Garey:

"Herb Fest
Sat. October 10th, 2009, 10am-4pm

Herb fest is cornucopia of information, seeds, and plants.

In the course of the day, underneath the old walnut tree that
survived the fire, there’s going to be an abundance of free
workshops on all things to do with herbs:

11am -- Growing and Using Herbs -- herbs 101, taught by Kathleen
noon -- Companion Planting -- of herbs and vegetables, who likes
who and what likes what, taught by Dawn
1pm -- Soils and Amending Your Soils, taught by Robert
2pm -- Medicinal Herb Preparation -- using herbs you grow,
taught by Olympia
3pm -- Regional Herbs -- of the Southwest & Mediterranean
Climates, taught by Martha

It should be a really great time and a lot of knowledge shared. Come
out for one or a couple or all of the workshops if you can. There’s
going to be a lot of great information.

The Garden already also has a lot of herbs in pots to choose from and will have a shipment of seeds in too for fall and winter planting,
etc., but also the Italian seed company Franchi is going to have a
booth of seeds, as well.

The Garden’s new website is also up and going now with info on the event.

Come out to Herb Fest and support our local business (instead of Home Depot of course), expand your home gardens, and increase your knowledge of herbs, how to grow them, and how to use them too!"

Back to the words of the usual Goddess around here: today's photo is of a child working in a Pomona garden in 1970 from Flickr.com. It seemed a fitting photo for encouraging everyone to continue the Pomona gardening tradition by coming out to Herb Fest. You are guaranteed to spot at least one goddess there (the one specifically assigned to Garey), as well as the one who'll be trying to get away from soccer and a birthday party to stop by.

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Sorry They're Closed

Sorry We're Closed
Originally uploaded by bluecinderella

I noticed that the Green Mini Market at Holt and Palomares has already closed. If you are not familiar with the place, don't be confused by the name, this was no produce market. Nor was it painted green. It was a cigarette and liquor store. I'll take this closure as a sign that things on Holt are improving to the point where there are not enough ne'er do wells to support another liquor store. But I'm not sure how I'd balance that with the fact that I've seen a lot more mentally ill folks walking around town of late.

Another pending closure is Ken Mart, located next door to the 99 Cents Only Store on Towne. If you've ever gone to that 99 cents store, I know you know this place: it's the place that blasts the music incredibly loud at all times of the day and night. I've never been inside - for fear of further damage to my hearing. From what I could see, they sold high fashion for all ages. High fashion that is now at closeout, bargain prices.

Also closed, Pomona's one and only shoe repair place: Jerry's Shoe Repair at 1092 W. Second. Seems it's been eaten up by the upholstery/ furniture place next door. Kinda sad that you can no longer cobble local.

As for the Stater Bros on South Garey, well it is still closed. The building and parking lot still stand empty, other than the motorhome with a large "W" on it that uses the parking lot as it's home. I like to affectionately call this motorhome "Dub-yah." There's another motor home that's been passing many an hour in front of the still-open Stater Bros. on Garey and Alvarado. I call that motorhome "The HMS Pinafore" because it has "HMC" on the side and is as big as a ship (but twice as ugly).

In reading the paper this past week about the upcoming openings of Fresh 'N Easy supermarkets in surrounding communities, I could not help but think Pomona once again missed the boat. Fresh 'N Easy makes a point of going into markets which other grocery stores have historically ignored. Kinda sounds like Pomona, doesn't it? That's why they recently built in Compton, etc.

I just don't get why Pomona's prince never seems to come, yet the dented motor homes never seem to leave.

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I'll Be a Son of a Gun

I put a John Avila for School Board blurb on the blog (see top right column). I am voting for him because I have seen his sign in the yards of some people here in Lincoln Park and on Garey Avenue. People who I know want the best for Pomona. I don't know anything about the man myself, other than being fairly confident he is not the son of a former or current mayor of Pomona.

I was told that we actually vote for *two* people for school board. That leaves me with one more choice.

I am actually thinking of voting for Jason Rothman. Which kind of suprised me. I read all the candidate statements that I could locate on the internet. Jason is the only one with an arts background and who says the arts will be a priority for him. He's a former music teacher.

My dream has been to have one of the local elementary schools emphasize the arts and run a Sycamore-like program. Sycamore is a school in the Claremont Village which operates under a Waldorf-based philosophy, and Sycamore has become increasingly popular over the last few years. It is so popular, but small, that even Claremont intra (as opposed to inter, I hope I got that right) district transfers can not always get in. The majority of parents I know living in Lincoln Park would love for their children to be able to go to Sycamore, but know we don't stand a chance of getting in. Given the popularity of the Sycamore model, Pomona Unified would likely accomplish their goal of increasing enrollment by running a similar type of program. Two PUSD art teachers proposed such a thing to former Superintendent T for this school year, but, obviously, it never happened. I figure that Jason, of all the candidates, would be the most open to an alternative elementary school that could draw in many of the Lincoln Park transfers, as well as students from surrounding cities who can't get into Sycamore.

As for young Robert "Son of Torres" Torres, he's living in Never Neverland if he thinks he'll get my vote.



The photo immediately above is courtesy of Robert's campaign website.

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Anthrax in the Hood

Was there anything about this in the local news? And if so, is there any follow up?

Speaking of criminal activity, I got caught up in the road closure at Towne and Lexington yesterday involving the police shooting. Man were there a lot of cop cars at that intersection. I drive up that street every day around that time and there is never anything going on, so it really was a freak event by an out-of-towner (from Riverside County, of course). I'm talking about the man who was killed by the police yesterday. I noticed today that part of the fencing is down around the empty lot just south of the Catholic Cemetery on Towne, so I am assuming that is where the car (or cars) crashed into. Yet another empty lot with a screwed up fence to look at, and another bad news day. Something we are seeing less and less of at least.

Tonight as I type the sky is wonderfully quiet and free of helicopter activity. If only some of the train conductors were breaking the rules and blowing their whistles as they drive through town, it would be a perfect sounding Pomona night.

Discovering Red Box

I have been eyeing the big red box at Stater Bros. for a while now. It stands on the other side of the doorway from the Coinstar and advertises $1 DVDs. I thought there might be a catch. Plus, I thought it only had the movies that are advertised on the side of it's shiny red box. When I did try to check it out, husband ushered me along with the assurance that the movies were all terrible anyway.

Finally without husband, Mr. Big and I decided to try it out. And now, I consider myself a Red Box convert. There are quite a few more movies available than are advertised on the side of the box. The system requires a credit or debit card. The system is paperless if you give them your email address.

The movies really are only $1....per day. If you keep the movie after 9 p.m. the next day, they charge you another dollar for each day. Still much cheaper than renting movies at Hollywood Video, plus you don't have to go out of your way (to another City) to make the return, but just do it the next time you need groceries. Actually, you can return the videos at any Red Box location (there is also a red box at Albertson's up on Foothill in terms of Pomona, and locations all over Southern California).


You won't get a pretty box for your video, but instead just a red and clear generic plastic container. And I'm not going to say that the movies they have are universally great. But they have a lot of the newest releases, with a few oldies thrown in (like I noticed they have the Karate Kid, for instance).

There is a whole internet undergound revolving around Red Box. The company puts out tons of promo codes that can be used for a free rental. I used promo code "DVDONME" yesterday and got it free, but of course we didn't return the movie today, so RedBox still got our one hundred cents. There are people who pride themselves on using a promo code every time they rent and never have to pay for a rental. It's just those darn late fees! But, I kinda respect a company that gives out free stuff, even if it's a trap because they know they'll get you in the end.

You can supposedly go online and reserve a video, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet (perhaps it doesn't actually work yet). I also have not been able to figure out if Red Box movies are the same in all their locations, or if Red Box "redlines" in any way by putting certain kinds of movies into what they perceive as certain kinds of neighborhoods.

For now, we are just enjoying our latest cost-saving discovery. Anyone else redboxing?

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I've got mail

You've got mail
Originally uploaded by Siebe

The only mail I seem to get these days is from Verizon, offfering me Fios cable, phone and internet for $79 for 6 months with a one year contract. I keep thinking that they could offer an even better rate if they were not spending so much money on these every other day mailings. I assume that homes all over Pomona are being bombarded with these offers in their mailbox. As if that was not enough, Verizon Fios just installed a billboard at the corner of Garey and Alvarado. Yesterday I was half way tempted to call them up and sign up, wondering if that would stop the mailbox harassment. But then I would be complaining about the El Super grocery store newspaper mailing, which has great prices but does not even bother to include their address.

As for email: the bulk of the email I get is from people who have joined me on Twitter. I have only "tweeted" two times, many months ago, so I assume that on Twitter people like the quiet type. The quiet thing would never fly on a blog. Trust me, I have seen my hits dwindle the longer my fingers remain otherwise occupied. The one very cool thing to come out of Twitter was having Sister Helen Prejean, who I greatly admire, add me as a friend. In that respect, silence is golden. I just wish Verizon would learn that and communicate with me a little less.

Pomona Soccer Hooligans in Claremont

Watch Soccer Hooligans
Originally uploaded by sandrino

So with the Pomona AYSO now defunct (or at least in serious remission), Mr. Big had the choice of Claremont AYSO or Philips Ranch AYSO. This didn't seem like too much of a choice to me. Long story short Mr. Big is playing with Claremont AYSO this year. Already, the diffferences between Pomona AYSO and Claremont AYSO are readily apparent.

For one, they plan ahead in Claremont. We started practicing in mid August in Claremont, whereas in Pomona we started practices the week before our first game. Unfortunately with the fires, all that planning ahead in Claremont still resulted in only having two practices under our belt before the first game. Maybe Pomona was onto something with their "fly by the seat of your pants" philosophy?

In Claremont, I have already heard talk of a team banner. In Pomona, we went 3/4s of the searson before we even got the money together to buy one. And of course once we got it, there were some typos.

In Pomona, there were not enough teams for us to play within our own league. Therefore Phillips Ranch had to take mercy on us and agree to play our teams. The P.R. teams were usually about 12 deep, while our Pomona team was lucky if 6 kids showed up. This whole bit about worrying that each kid played enough was a moot point. Most games, we didn't have enough players for anyone to take a break. In Claremont, there are about 20 teams in each division, with about ten kids on each team. No need to outsource there.

Last weekend was our first game in Claremont. Almost reflexively I stood up and yelled at the team like we used to do in Pomona last year. I looked around and realized that I was the only parent doing this. I mean there were teams playing all around us, but it was really, really quiet. I asked the mother next to me if I was not supposed to yell, and she politely told me that they "discourage it."

Did I mention that I am really missing the Pomona AYSO? That, and wondering how many of our Claremont teammates are actually fellow Pomona hooligans.

It was the Lab Tech

Anyone else been following the Annie Le/grad student from Yale murder going on in New Haven, Connecticut? All week, I have been running across the name of the New Haven Police Chief, one James Lewis. I kept wondering if it was the same Chief James Lewis who headed up the Pomona Police Department when I first moved to town. A google search revealed that it is. Just another former Pomonan, out there doing good in the world. Kudos to Chief Lewis, who appears to have run a methodical and successful investigation of the murder. And who is our current police chief again? Do we even have one?

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You Can Speak Easy on Saturday

Pomona Heritage Speakeasy

Date: Saturday September 19, 2009
Where: dA Center for the Arts,
252 South Main St. Pomona Arts Colony
Time: 7 pm to 10 pm
Dress: '20s and '30s (but 80's through the 2000's is okay too)
Bring: 5 clams ($5.00) to get in. Donations for Booze
GOAL: Chance to buy Home Tour Tickets for $20.00 and to have a good time.

An event that promises yet more blending between the downtown folks and the historically hysterical. And with only a $5 cover, perhaps there will be a few students, regents and/or bloggers mixed in there too.

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The Best Fair Ever

Hot dog on a stick with a smile
Originally uploaded by lauripiper

We went to the Fair on Sunday, and I have to say it was the best one ever in the 5 years that we have been attending. Perhaps it's because Mr. Big is a boy, and this year's fair boasts a new pirate show, a huge dinosaur exhibit, a Jedi Academy show, and a relocated and expanded Forestry area (with the exception of some surly forestry "volunteers" who acted more like the butchers at Stater Bros. ). Even free clay crafts for kids at the Sheets Gallery.

All for a $1 admission fee - which made the $15 parking charge and the $6.75 cheeseburger all the more easy to swallow.

And, like everyone else in Pomona, the Fair has a blog, where you can read all about free admission on Fridays if you bring 5 cans of food from Ralph's. Does anyone know what all is planned for Pomona Day on Friday, September 11?

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