Only YOU can prevent (SoCal wild) fires

The Associated Press' lead story at this hour is that a boy, whose age and name were not released, started one of the massive fires in Southern California because he was playing with matches.

All I have to say about this is, Where is Smokey the Bear?

Maybe there should be more billboards reminding us all not to be responsible for fires that destroy 21 homes and 38,000 acres.

I imagine some will join the Moralist-Where-Were-The-Parents Brigade on this issue, but anyone who is actually a parent (and of course me, who is not, nor ever was or plan to be a parent) can probably tell them to suck it.

I'm just looking for a little more common sense, be it achieved through better parenting or government-sponsored cartoons in the lives of children everywhere.

Oh, Oakland.

If anyone wants to enlighten me about why Oakland banned commercial billboard advertising ten years ago, that'd be great.

I can understand banning billboard advertising in general-- it's totally distracting, and people like me are advertiser's dream-targets because of an insane compulsion to read every single billboard. I cannot avoid one I haven't read before, even if it's for mortgages or casinos or the truck stop in forty miles.

But why just commercial advertising?

Are religious institutions and charities just not distracting because no one pays attention to them?

Maybe I'm reading too much into this.

I don't know, does this seem to eerily parallel some Americans' glimmering hope for the same catchy "From First Lady to President" headline in U.S. politics?

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

I walked by the Berkeley Zoo today only to find that my favorite sign no longer exists. The Patriot originally tipped me off to it on August 29th, before I started gawking by there fairly regularly.

I loved this particular poster thing because they spell it "dieing." It touched my heart, really, because come on, it's not like the tree-sitters can be spending their time in class learning English grammar. They have more important things to do, like fling dung at police officers and build wooden structures in trees to protest trees being killed.

In any case, I forgot my camera nearly every time since the fence went up, and when I finally made it over this morning, new signs were up and they weren't nearly as exciting.

Oh, tree people-- can you try a little harder to entertain me? The "STOP DRIVING" sign chalked on the pedestrian sidewalk was close, but no Seventh Generation paper towel roll.

Happy (half) birthday to me!

Yes, today is my half-birthday. It is precisely six months from this date that I will become yet another year older.

I'm not entirely sure why it warrants a blog post, but hey... it's not like I've been blogging lately anyway.

My two cents

In case the Internet just isn't enough for you loyal readers, I'm in print for the Daily Cal's Homecoming issue.

No promises for meaningful or interesting content.

It's not online (yet?) so if you're near campus you'll just have to pick up your own damn copy. Or ten.

(The Campanile Should Play) Top 40

So I've been casually pushing this Blog for a Year contest thing, and I'm actually doing pretty well.

At least as of yesterday, I'm ranked 38th out of 202 entries. Just think, if everyone who reads my column in the Daily Cal's Homecoming issue (I think that's printing sometime this week...whenever Homecoming is) finds this blog and votes for me... maybe I could win?

That'd be pretty sweet. I like money just as much as the next gal.

Of course, I'm no Ethan in the charts. But I guess that just makes me more glad he's not in the contest.

Slow news day

Um... is it just me, or is this perhaps not as uh, newsworthy, as one might expect for an Associated Press top headline?