Category — weather

I thought I was all set with Halloween decorations, but then this sign on GadgetLike caught my eye:

I like the sign so much that I am considering doing a whole-house Psycho theme for Halloween, including:

• The Psycho Shower Curtain

• A “Mother” Costume

Now all I need is an old rocking chair!

Dear lord, I am wilting.  I moved to Santa Monica from Silver Lake to escape oppressive heat, so I am not enjoying this unseasonably warm weather one bit.  Where are the cool Pacific breezes?  Or the morning marine layer?   Halloween is less than a month away — I can’t put Jack O’Laterns out in this weather! I would give anything for a little bit of a rain shower like we had the other day to possibly cool things off a bit.  I thought the weather in Las Vegas was brutal last weekend, but I didn’t expect similar conditions in Santa Monica in October.  Yikes.

Of course I have already packed away the air conditioner, and there is not enough ice in the freezer.  At least the heatwave is supposed to break in the next day or so.  I guess for the time being I will just have to go to my happy place and imagine refreshment:

I occasionally page through the fitness magazine’s while I am in line at the grocery store or drug store in order to check out the latest outdoor gear reviews, and I was really surprised to read Men’s Health’s interview with The Dark Knight actor Aaron Eckhart. Apparently he owns a stretch of land along the coast north of Los Angeles and is restoring an old barn there, and he’s been doing all sorts of awesome things like planting 40 oak trees. It was really refreshing to read that he’s enhancing the natural beauty of the place and the existing structures rather than paving over everything. I love driving up the coast to County Line and Point Mugu and one of the best parts is the gorgeous rolling hills along the ocean. It’s nice to know people like Aaron Eckhart are doing what they can to preserve that fantastic environment.

It seems like Mother’s Day just finished, and already time to shop for Father’s Day! I had thought about some golf gifts like ball sets or a golf trunk organizer (pictured above), but I want to do something a little more unusual this year. I am considering something like The Weather Channel Wireless Forecast Station because he really loves The Weather Channel.

Some other ideas I am tossing around:

• Baseball game tickets
• Polarized sunglasses
• A portable fishfinder

Any other suggestions or ideas would be warmly welcomed!

After biking, I often do some yoga to help stretch out sore muscles. And even though it seems a little obvious, it had never really occurred to me that yoga is also great training for riding. Yoga helps with flexibility, strength and especially balance, which is crucial for staying on a bike. I definitely can use a little help with that! The bruised knee and shin I got on Saturday are due entirely to lack of balancing skill. I suppose I could just invest in some shin guards, but I think I really need to get this balance thing worked out at some point.

Here are some great tips for using your yoga practice to benefit your biking:

• Yoga for Cyclists from Yoga Journal
• A Yoga Sequence for Cyclist
• Five Reasons Why Yoga Will Make You a Better Rider from iYogaLife
• Yoga 4 Cycling (PDF)

I have been trying to avoid using the air conditioner at all costs, but the heat this past weekend really helped to change my mind a little. I still want to cut down on energy usage and keep my electric bill low, but I also don’t want to suffer. So, I have been researching ways to keep out place cooler in general, so that we can keep use of the air conditioner down to a minimum. Here are a couple of easy solutions:

• Reflective interior blinds on windows can reduce heat gain by 45%
• Medium-colored draperies on windows can also reduce heat gain
• Open the fireplace damper to let cool air in
• Use a ceiling fan for increased air comfort
• Tightly woven bamboo shades hung outside of windows helps block heat by up to 80% in the summer