CEDARHILL

First Friday @ Vida E Cafe

              Just when I decide to plant myself in front of my computer until I get all my posts updated, the events calendar loaded, the bills paid, the articles written for the new, upcoming "News n Views" an opportunity comes along like listening to my friend Bill Bell perform at First Friday at Vida E Cafe.

First - it is just a pleasant one block walk from my house. Second- first Fridays are free entertainment and a chance to visit with people you don't normally get to hang with. Tonight I ran into Fernando (that would be Mayor Fernando, who had just gotten back from the State Legislature where he - as part of the executive committee of the Cities of Leagues and Towns- just agreed to sue the State over HB 2008. Fernando is one of the most well-versed, interesting leaders I've met and I always learn more than I ever knew I was even interested in - when talking to him. More on that later...where I'll be writing a reg. monthly column on the Mayor.

Third, my friend Bill Bell and his wife Toti (who is a wonderful artist) are now enjoying some time in the area after spending many many years working in Calif. and driving out here to care for an aging parent. One of the key things Bill and I found we shared. Anyway, he is quite the musical talent and was performing with the 2nd love of his life- after Toti- his 170yr old violin.

He has produced a CD:  The Vicar's Son which has is sold here and I've included a cut from that CD. As he joked tonight, this is the first performance he's given without a contingent of other musicians, but I don't think the audience cared.  Thanks Bill, for sharing your music!

06 Neil Gow's Lament For The Death Of His Second Wife

 

Hanging in Tucson; talking gmtEconnect

I was in Tucson this week to give a presentation on GMTeConnect to Ellies Breakfast Club which has been around since I moved to Tucson in '83. It has a great collection of people - many I knew and did business with when I lived in Tucson. So it is always fun to be asked to talk!   OK!...so it was the August hotter-than-hades meeting and maybe a slow month for the group....but they are a gracious audience and always seem to enjoy learning about Globe et all.

My talk was on Econnect and my inspiration in launching a portal (necessity!), and what I see as it's greatest strength (cheap, timely and far reaching medium to market individual businesses and local community.... Many in my area are not tech-saavy, but will benefit if given an easy, affordable way to be on the net!

I tell the story about the project I was working on just prior to launching this site. It as a brochure designed with tourism in mind to be distributed at the Airport. Well... it was $1300 to distribute (you have to hire a company to get you in), and another $2000 to print, and then money for sales, design layout etc. About a $5000 project. Something that would have to be paid for by asking advertisers to support it. YET- I had 2 sets of B&B clients at the time who looked at the Econnect site and suggested I drop the brochure. "By the time anyone gets in a car or on a plane they have already "googled"  where they want to go. NOW- they will find Econnect and it will do ten times the sales job that a brochure could have done for ten time LESS money. I dropped the brochure idea.

This morning at 6:30 when i was setting up, I discovered the part to my projector was missing. Thank goodness for friends with the right connections. Or connectors as it was. Leslie, who has been a friend for nearly 25 years is also a photographer and happened to have all the equipment needed to do a presentation on the internet. THANK YOU Leslie!  So- success.

She and I had exchanged "head shots" the day before. We both needed updated images for blogs, websites et all...and it is fun to work with another photographer/friend (and share a beer) to get pics of yourself. I do understand not liking to be in front of the camera....but it is something we all must do for business reasons...or family reasons...ie: those who would like to see something alittle more current than our highschool pic! Leslie has done many many of these "executive head shots" and can turn out great results in very little time with very little fuss. Leslie- you're the best! And it was fun!

  OK...so these are not images I'd put on a brochure...and if we'd been alittle more serious they may never have been shot...but I might find some use for them at some point... Or not. Anyway..we both have shots we can use to update webpages et all.

All in all...it's been a pretty productive two days... nice to spend time in my old stomping grounds and re-connect with friends here and just chill!

Trimmin' the mesquite

  This summer I also found a tree trimmer who was willing to climb up into my Chilean mesquite tree (which has the most vicious thorns of any tree I've ever known) and thin out the interior and reshape the canopy.

 This tree is shaping up to be my favorite (except for the thorns) because it does have graceful limbs and a beautiful shade canopy which stretches across the sidewalk.

The good/bad news about summer is that the B&B business slows waaay down and although that hurts cashflow, it makes it an ideal time to do projects like trim trees, repaint floors, and take out sidewalks....

~L

A little project- started

   I've always hated the narrow concrete pathway which shot - in a straight line- to the back yard. I like my paths wider...and curvier, and this one had neither of those characteristics. I had a bid of about $1500 to take out the sidewalk and re-landscape with a wide sweeping "earthy" path of decomposed granite. Decided that was not in my budget and I would try out my muscles which haven't been used in a very long time. Luckily Guy came over to help with "whatever" and the project was very do-able with both of us. Thank you Guy!!

We almost DIDN'T go any farther after doing the first slab- seen here. It was extra thick, extra hard and we envisioned 8 hours of this to get the entire sidewalk done. I seriously contemplated a design which included the straight and narrow sidewalk - but in the end decided to go ahead with the original plan.  So glad I did. It did get easier...kind of.

There was some pic and hammer work, some shoveling, some grunting, some heft and carry. But we did end up with a pile of concrete in a neat pile..Sort of...

The plan was to have the concrete in chunks for MWSullivan to haul it away on Sunday...and three hours later, we were done! Of course, this is just stage one of this project! 
On Monday, I'm getting 5 tons of DCgravel delivered, and still need to re-work the ground so it has hills and swales to direct the water away from the house and into the drainage ditch in the back.This project reminds me of the projects at St. George and my early days of doing patio projects in Kansas City. Of course, I was younger then and rocks and concrete weighed less.

 

Update on gmtEconnect

The new web portal: GMTeConnect launched on July 6th and is keeping me very busy with presentations to groups, and developing content for the site. Hence, the reason I've not had time to keep up with my own blog!  We've uploaded over 700 business listings to the site and had a good response from businesses in the area wanting to know more about the site and memberships. The big challenge right now is finding sales people and writers. So if you don't hear from me on this site - just check in with Econnect to see what I'm working on these days!

Quiet on the Western Front

It's been so long since I posted that i have almost forgotten how to use typepad! I've been really busy in June - on stuff that could not easily be blogged about. You just about have to see it - and now you can.

It's a web portal for the region. Sounds simple enough but it has been a huge undertaking which just happened to coincide with the production of another GMT paper.  There were days in the last 30 of them - that I didn't know whether I was coming or going. But I feel justified in the work put in so far... it seems it will pay off for me...and others who are signing on board. That was the purpose. 

My friend ellen wrote about doorways - and cleaning the wordwork which accumulates old residue.

She sent this wonderful missive about cleaning off the old and making way for new ideas, fresh presence. About how doorways signal we are stepping into new territory. She did this abou the same time I was in the middle of building the web portal. Which, by the way is another word for doorway. I took it as a sign that I was on the right path. It has required investment in money and time which are both in short supply these days, but I believe in it....totally.

So please take a look and keep coming back. This site has so much potential for our area to connect, inform..I think it will not only be a great asset, but a good business model to move me forward.

Funny how you can find opportunity in little Globe, Az. But it happens...

See: GMTeConnect.com   Oh, by the way. The latest edition of the Globe Miami Times can be read on-line now at eConnect by going to "About Us".

Meeting up with the Acers

It was a busy weekend with working on the paper, the web portal....and driving down to Tucson to hook up with the Acers who were on hand for the wedding of a 'favorite son'.

Seems they long ago incorporated 3 boys into their family of 4 girls: Matt (Left) Brandon (back) and Joe. Joe was the one getting married to Becky at the Wild Horse Ranch in Tucson and there were lots of Kingman and Tucson folks on hand to celebrate.
The ceremony was perfectly short and sweet and the reception/dancing went well past midnight. 

Jim, Brandon and Sarah all had to leave the next morning at 5:30 after four hours of sleep and the rest of us got to sleep in. Thank goodness!
This kind of night is why so many people move to Tucson. A June evening which was dry, cool and starlit.
Nothing like sharing a bathroom with 5 women...especially when they are getting ready for an "event!". Jim is used to it...he just stays out of the way!

Getting to and from Tucson these days though is a challenge. They have torn up both major arteries leading into Globe-Miami to widen the highways. So the highway looks like this for a 2 mile stretch heading to Tucson. On the weekends there may be a 15 minute delay, but on weekdays the road is completely shut down Mon- Friday.

Going the other way, the road can be shut down for 15 minutes to an hour while they clear the blasting debris. Not sure it was such a good idea to widen BOTH roads at the same time. Ah well.
Some things are worth running the gamut....and this weekend was one of them!  Cheers,L

Giving Leeway

A quote came across my desk today which went roughly like this: "I was given a cactus for a gift and in less than a week it had died. I thought damn it... I'm even less nurturing than a desert. " 

It made me think of the phone calls, the cards , the acts of kindness I could bestow upon my family and friends which seem to get lost in the mix. I regret that. Really I do. I have decided though that I'm not the only one who is overwhelmed at times and outpaced by the sheer number of things that need to be addressed on any particular day. I hope...and expect...my friends and family to know that I love and care about them, and will surface as time and inspiration affords my ability to share. My only assurance in this process is that I feel close to everyone even if I don't write and they don't write. They are still my "tribe".
You know who you are. I love you.
~L

New Blog etc...

You might be wondering why I haven't blogged on cedarhill lately and part of the reason is that I've been busy keeping up with two other blogs: Local School District  and The Theater.

The "Register" blog was launched in an effort to write about issues affecting our local School District which is not getting coverage in the two weekly papers. And the theater blog is simply to help Hollis Cinemas get some exposure and answer questions about the construction phase before the theater opens in November.

 

Bollywood 2009

THIS was a weekend of theatrics!  It was the closing weekend of Moon Over Buffalo in which Kip played the leading man, and Molly was the ingenue, and ended with Bollywood@Cedarhill where the Indian film industry is known for their over-the top theatrics when it comes to love and angst! 

The crowd for Bollywood was smaller since both rain and Play dates pushed the nite of Bollywood into May and landed it on Mothers Day. Still, those who came brought with them great food and spirit for the occasion Plus we had the pleasure of new faces who discovered our little "theater under the stars" and promise to come back for more.

As for dressing the part...My friend Jennifer had her ex husband pick up saris for Molly and I in India when he was there on business. And if I were handing out prizes, I would definitely give it to Nancy for her "Salwar Kameez" and scarf. Stunning! But every one did alittle something to mark the occassion. I do have to say that Ralph and Darin came in garb that I can only describe as somewhere between New Deli with and the 70's - with personality to match - and they were gracious enough to go for my "bended knee shot!.(I missed being able to co-host the event with Guy, since he ended up having to work!)

    

This year we watch Jab We Met, which is basically girl is in love with wrong boy while she spends the entire movie with the "right boy" helping her out of one crisis after another. Although all  us (in the audience) could see that she should be with this saint of a friend - who is fabulously cute and unpretentious- it took our heroine three hours and much singing, dancing and crying to come to the same conclusion. Very fun!