We Should All Look So Good at 50!

The On Broadway Merchant Association is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Barbie doll this Sunday June 14. Barbie on Broadway runs from 1 to 5 and includes Barbie manicures, Barbie stationery, specialty Barbie menu items and even a Barbie Drag Contest (and that's not a pink sports car race either). For real aficionados, Barbie doll designers and collectors will also be on hand. Sounds like a good excuse to head on down to Broadway and check out the cool stuff at Iguana's and snag a beer at E.J. Malloy's. Now where did my spike heel slides and pink velvet capris go to?

Pedal Downtown for some cheap grub this summer.

At Bike Long Beach, they're advertising Car-Free Fridays on the first Fridays of July and August. That's July 3 and August 7 for the calendar-challenged. Lots of restaurants are offering discounts for cyclists on those two days, including 20% off at California Pizza Kitchen and Johnny Rockets and a free salad at Bouchee's Bistro.
As of yet, they don't specify how you prove you actually cycled, so it you want to throw the bike in the trunk for a cheap lunch, you can probably get away with it.

There seems to be quite a controversy over the Bicycle Master Plan according to this week's District Weekly. I'm just happy to see that many of the proposed projects seem to have funding. In this hardscrabble economy when City Hall has to close down every Friday, how cool is it that bicyclists are pulling in major funding?

Summertime, and the Creative Juices are Flowing

My workload is considerably lighter now that the school year is over. I plan to devote more time to writing my novel and maybe a little travel if my budget permits.

I just sent in an email to Rose Writers to ask to join the June 23rd session. It's an 8-week course based on the Amherst Writers & Artists Workshops where writers of all abilities come together to write from prompts and share their writing as well as bring other writing in for critiques. Since my Writers Village Novel Writing Class has fizzled, I need some new inspiration. It costs $100, but if I can get in, I'm sure it will be worth it.

While on the Rose Writers website, I noticed that the members will be presenting their work in a reading at the Starling Diner on June 27 at 7 p.m. Good food and good words--what a dynamite combination.

Has Roll Up Long Beach Rolled Up?

Poking around the Tour des Artisties website, I noticed on of its sponsors is RULB or Roll Up Long Beach. From its about page, "Roll Up believes in the positive change that can come about through the unification of the unique individuals who live in Long Beach." I heartily endorse this attitude and look forward to the proposed unification.

So far it looks like they had a cranking launch party in April and have been nursing a hangover since then. So roll up your sleeves, RULB, there's work to do!

Don't tell me it's the second week of June already!

I've been having so much fun cleaning my oven and weeding the garden that I seem to have lost all track of time. A lot of interesting events slipped by like Long Beach Heritage's Home Tour and the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life at the CSULB track, but we just need to move on and not regret all those things that could have been.

As if to relieve my guilt a little, Tour des Artistes still does not have its full schedule online even though it takes place this Saturday June 13 in Downtown LB from 4 to 9 with afterparties promised into the wee hours. The full schedule is supposed to be up on Thursday at the website as well as an insert in OC Weekly. (What isn't the District Weekly big enough?) So far I have my eye on Artmatters Long Beach at the Lafayette's Dome Room in which some of the finest writers in Long Beach will be reading their works. Hmm, sounds just a little bit too good to be true, but I'm just gullible enough to have a look-see