27 Feb 2024
Lovin’ Lunch
Storyteller Children’s Center, founded 36 years ago, hosted its 10th annual Lunch with Love at the Rockwood Woman’s Club with 177 guests raising around $100,00 for the organization – a therapeutic preschool providing tuition-free early childhood education for youngsters with adverse challenges. The boffo bash, co-chaired by Erinn Lynch and Dr. Peggy Dodds, featured Ashleigh […]
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A Romantic Serenade
It was the musical version of pouring a gallon into a pint pot when Santa Barbara Symphony under maestro Nir Kabaretti performed “Serenade for Romance” at the 604-seat Lobero, having moved the show from the 1,553-seat Granada after a sprinkler mishap soaked the capacious stage. The decidedly cozy concert featured violinist Sirena Huang, artist-in-residence for […]
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Lotusland Love
Romance was definitely in the air when Lotusland, the 37-acre Montecito botanical paradise, hosted a Valentine’s Day event for 25 couples, one of whom was enjoying their 51st big day together. The tony twosomes quaffed flutes of champagne and enjoyed the self-guided tour of the exquisite gardens accompanied by flamenco-Latino music from Santa Barbara guitarist […]
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The Universal Language
It wasn’t exactly Dr. Dolittle, but Montecito oceanographer resident Dove Joans, who writes under the pseudonym Dolphingirl, claims to be able to communicate with animals, particularly whales and dolphins. In 2019, she wrote We Are the Ocean: 50 Waves to Wonder! and has just published the second edition of Dolphin Talk, which she wrote in […]
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Harpsichord in the Hall
Camerata Pacifica debuted its latest import-flutist Sébastian Jacot in a most impressive concert at the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall, with a program including music by Bach, Haydn, and Jolivet. Geneva-born Jacot, who began studying music at the age of six, also holds the position as principal flute at the prestigious Berliner Philharmoniker. He plays a […]
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Transitions: The Language of Letting Go
As Winter gives way to Spring, I find myself pondering life’s various transitions. Never more so than this week, while in Mammoth with my teenagers for our annual pilgrimage to the snow. For the first time, my 13-year-old daughter left our rented condo on her own to meet a friend on the mountain. Happy, confident, […]
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A Purrfect Project
Montecito filmmaker Daniel DeVorzon, son of Oscar nominee Barry DeVorzon and his wife Jelinda, has found the purrfect project. Daniel, who is also the producer and composer, has made Nine Lives about the connection between one free spirited cat and the humans who love her. Despite a perilous start in life as a feral feline […]
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20 Feb 2024
The Gentleman from Liverpool Will be your Server This Evening
LONDON (1982) – Richard Slater, anecdotist, adventurer, and future server at San Ysidro Ranch’s legendary Stonehouse Restaurant, hoisted his backpack in a gesture of fortitude. A wall of glass gave onto the gigantic, riveted machine that would presently loft him out of Heathrow Airport and deposit him at JFK in New York City. Slater stared […]
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Dear Montecito: Joan Curran
“I hadn’t imagined myself working in the nonprofit sector when I started college,” says Joan Curran. Joan was a freshman at the University of San Francisco when she began her federal work study and – as she would later realize – began her career. Joan joined the team at a San Francisco–based nonprofit called Career […]
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A Rainy Yet Bright Start to 2024
In 2024, sales are up in Montecito – in both volume and prices. What a whopping start to 2024 for the high-end real estate market here in Montecito’s 93108. As I type, just 40 days into the new year, we have seen a total of 17 sales in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), with two […]
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William Caxton Facsimile Edition of ‘The Canterbury Tales’
GG sends me a beautiful leather-bound book, The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400), The William Caxton Facsimile Edition; of which only 500 were published by Cambridge University Press in 1973. She has #248, signed by Cambridge University scholar Walter Hamilton of Magdelene College. On the last page of this huge volume is a wonderful […]
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AHA!
Roxana Petty is understandably proud that AHA! is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2024, marking a quarter-century since the nonprofit’s founding as a small summer program just a few months after the infamous Columbine High School massacre. In an effort to reduce the possibility of such a tragedy happening in Santa Barbara, AHA! (which stands […]
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Blessings On You
The idea of blessing – that is, asking God to have some favorable influence on someone or something, is probably as old as religion itself. In some religions, only certain people are authorized to pronounce certain blessings – but in general, in our culture, anybody may, without any special permission, bless any other person, or […]
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A Fitting Fête for a Lady
The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art and Westmont Music Department threw a grand party on Jan. 3 in honor of the late Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree, whose generosity benefited not only the college but the entire Santa Barbara community. The Westmont String Quartet played as celebrants enjoyed champagne and crêpe while taking in the stunning ocean […]
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Stargazers Welcome
If the weather cooperates, and that has been a big if this winter, the Milky Way’s open clusters will be the focus of the monthly stargazing event on Friday, Feb. 16, beginning after 6 pm and lasting for several hours. The observatory, home of the powerful Keck Telescope, is open to the public every third […]
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Beach Volleyball Star to Preach
One of the best American beach volleyball players will speak in Westmont chapel on Friday, Feb. 16, at 10:30 am in Murchison Gym. Alumnus Avery Drost (’07) led the Association of Volleyball Players (AVP) with 350 digs and was second with 551 kills last season. He coaches boys’ volleyball at Mira Costa High School in […]
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Kabocha Squash
The kabocha squash is one of my favorite squashes, creamy, nutty, and sweet – this squash has an edible thick green skin, a low glycemic index, is super low calorie, and contains a plethora of vitamins and minerals. I found some gorgeous ones at the market this week at Jimenez Family Farms. The kabocha squash […]
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The Zone of Interest
Jonathan Glazer’s new Oscar-nominated film, The Zone of Interest, has finally hit SB screens, and if you’ve yet to check it out, it’s a definite must-see. But be warned: it’s a difficult watch. Rudolf Höss, the commandant of Auschwitz, lives – quite literally – next to the largest and most notorious of concentration camps. There, […]
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From Zero to Zen in an Hour: A Sublime Time at Nobu Ryokan in Malibu
I’ve always wanted to visit Japan – a country that recently reopened to tourism. In the meantime, I thought I might approximate a Zen-like trip to Japan along the coast of California… just an hour’s drive away. These days, you can go throw a dart just about anywhere on the tourism planet map and visit […]
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Black History Month 2024: The Obsidian Scholars Poetry Jam
Black History Month is dedicated to African Americans and the Arts. In Week Two we give it up for the young Obsidian Scholars at the Gateway Educational Services Goleta, who presented their original poetry in fond memory of Santa Barbara poet laureate, activist, and local institution Sojourner Kincaid Rolle. The event was held at Soul […]
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