I was heartened to read this article on the NYT Travel page about one of my secret favorite SoCal destination: Catalina. Generally I’m not much for family friendly destinations, and I dreaded my visit to Catalina. I expected mixed cheese delite. I got a quaint, pretty surprise. And it’s great to read that the tourism boards are throwing some cash towards a renewal of the hotels and restaurants.

IMHO, the hotels offer a bit more than the NYT describes. Overpriced, sure. But the views from many of them are lovely, and they’re mostly independent and character-rich. But the food stank, and I’m glad that better options are appearing.

For my budget and adventure traveling readers: a low-priced hostel perches near the top of Catalina’s hillside. And a number of kayak-in beachside campgrounds offer privacy for visitors willing to paddle to the remote and undeveloped back side of the island.

Oh, and a fun fact for visitors to SoCal who’ve grown weary of the endless traffic: precious few cars of any kind ply the island’s few roads. To get around for a day of sightseeing, tourists rent electric golf carts and putter around at a pace conducive to relaxation. I just love that.

The Camel’s Ass by Tim Brookes

Not only is the writing lyrical, the story itself speaks to my heart as a tourist and traveler. More than that, Mr. Brookes speaks the truth. All the oh-so-adventurous (white male American and European) travel writers in the world can’t beat down the reality–a big part of travel is leisure. Luxury. Being treated differently from the locals. Brookes even uses the plague-ridden word “tourist” as though it applies to him–a travel writer.

And that’s okay.

Here’s a good succinct article about the just-found hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure an amateur metal-detector operator:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/09/24/international/i011405D22.DTL&type=travel

~~~~drool~~~~

As a medieval European history geek of the first water, I just cannot get over how amazing this find is. I know it will be a while before the bulk of the collection can be displayed. Which is good enough for me, because I can’t afford to hop a plane to Britain just now. But I’m looking forward to ongoing publications as the collection is studied (and photographed!) and cataloged.

Shiny!

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/why-he-will-not-read-your-fucking-script/

Just because somebody thinks they have “cool ideas” for a novel, screenplay, whatever does NOT make that somebody a writer.

And I swear, the next person who hears what I do for a so-called living and tells me “Oh I love to travel! I could be a travel writer too!” will be in grave danger of getting hammered to death with the extended-life battery of my four-year-old laptop.

In a shocking turn of events that will likely send ripples through the world of social media, spelling counts!

Wall Street Journal claims that engineers need to write competently, even in email.

What astonishes me more than the intrepid, semi-literate engineer described in the article are the legions of college students and even self-described writers who can’t write a coherent English sentence. How does someone manage to graduate from university, regardless of major, still confusing “our” and “are”? How do they pass the basic English course that’s part of every general ed curriculum I’ve ever heard of?

As for the so-called writers who seem to think that they’ll get published using lolcatz-style as their “voice” because they don’t understand basic grammar…good luck with that. In fact, please pitch the same editors and agents I pitch.

Thank you.

Seriously.

I am all aglow with the awesomeness of this…or maybe that’s just the clarified goose fat smeared all over my face.

http://travelswithpain.wordpress.com/

It’s 2009–nine years past the dot-com bubble bursting, more than a year into the 21st century real estate crash. The worldwide economy is in the shitter, and the United States specifically is experiencing record unemployment and poverty.

And yet our entrepreneurial spirit springs strong. Got a spare $250? You can now fly your pet first class on Pet Airways to five destinations in the continental US.

Yes, I am one of those freaks who considers my cats to be my family. (Why shouldn’t I? My cats are more dependable than my ex-husband.) And I would definitely not let my beloved babies fly in a cargo hold.

But…now? Seriously?? Is there honestly enough demand for this service at this time?

Maybe if they advertise on TV with an annoying sock puppet, they’ll succeed.

This sounds like a really, really lovely trip. Except that I’d prefer the permanent collection at the museum.