Seven Ways to Brighten Your Home on a Cloudy Day!

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Seven Ways to Brighten Your Home on a Cloudy Day!

Fall is officially here in Southern California. Brisk mornings, overcast days, chilly evenings, the leaves are beginning to turn colors…well, ok.  Palm trees don’t change colors, but you get the idea.  The following are a few ideas to brighten your home on a cold, cloudy day.

1. Mirrors, mirrors on the walls...

Mirrors are a great way to expand a space as well as reflect light.  Instead of a piece of artwork which otherwise might absorb light such as above a sofa or buffet table, replace it with a beautifully framed mirror.  However, make sure that the mirror is reflecting something beautiful or of interest such as the view to the outdoors or a beautiful chandelier: not just reflecting yet another blank wall.

2. Embrace Fall and the colors of the changing leaves or fall fruits and vegetables.

Bring the outdoors in by adding potted plants or clipping some branches from your yard and placing them in a vase as a centerpiece or on a side table. Plants will soften hard edges, add depth and color to a space as well as texture and interest.

3. Have you seen your kitchen counter lately? 

Are you even sure you know what color your kitchen counter is anymore?  How about the top of your desk? De-Clutter and purge items that are sucking the life and the light out of your rooms. Yes, that might mean putting away half of your rooster collection, or at least some of your countertop appliances  (Do you really use ALL of them EVERY day? Really?)  Simple steps like this will make a huge difference in how bright a room feels.

4. Clean those windows!

Hard water spots, Santa Ana dust, fire smoke, cob webs, wet doggie nose streaks all lead to the same conclusion..."Clean Those Windows!"  You’d be amazed how bright your home will seem by doing this simple task.

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United Parents: Local Nonprofit Helping Families with Children Having Mental, Emotional, Behavior Problems

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United Parents is a parent run, non-profit, professional organization providing services to families with children who have mental, emotional and behavioral problems. United Parents was founded over two decades ago on the principle that parents helping parents makes a difference in shaping a better future for our children and our community.

Do you know a child (or parent) that:

  • Is Suicidal
  • Always angry
  • Makes you always angry
  • Has trouble in school
  • Needs help with drugs
  • Is a teen parent
  • Is always sad
  • Gets violent for NO reason
  • Is always disruptive
  • Makes you feel out of control
  • Causes chaos in your home
  • Has no hope

What we do

  • Support—so parents don’t feel isolated
  • Respite—parents can take a break, regroup
  • Education to help manage special challenges
  • Activities for children, encouraging competent, pro-social behaviors and random acts of kindness
  • Knowledge about effectively navigating the many “systems” touching our children.
  • Advocacy so children receive services to help them succeed in schools and the community.
  • Peer to peer advice & guidance during difficult times.

“A parent’s hope for tomorrow”

If you know a family struggling to raise a child with emotional, behavioral and/or mental disorders, maybe we can help.

Monthly parent support groups in Simi Valley, Fillmore, Camarillo, Westlake Village (recently formed), Oxnard and Northridge. Foster parent association meetings in Ventura. There is also a new support group forming in Agoura.  United Parents offers free childcare during these sessions.

Visit www.unitedparents.org or call 805.384.1555 for more info or CLICK HERE for a flier.

Lifelong Conejo Valley Resident Helps Animals Through Her Art

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It was through Twitter that I recently came into contact with Stella Violano, a lifelong resident of Newbury Park.  Stella is a professional artist who has a distinct passion for painting animals.  In fact, she has dedicated thousands of hour of time to an organization she founded called Art Helping Animals (www.arthelpinganimals.com). AHA raises funds for non-profits that help animals in need.

Take a look at this amazing montage of some of the over 200 paintings of homeless animals that Violano painted between 2000 and 2006. All of the animals shown found loving homes.

And I love this touching video of Brigette, a homeless senior dachshund who found a home through Old Dog Haven, a charity supported by AHA. Violano's work transforming the aging pooch into Queen Elizabeth is magical. 

Given the Conejo Valley is named after a rabbit, I asked her if she had any bunny art to share with us.  Oh she certainly does!  I selected 3 of the 6 pieces she sent my way. If you like these, let me know and maybe I'll post more at a later date!

For more of Violano's work, visit http://smvstudio.com and http://paintingaday.blogspot.com.

Start Your Day Our Right with a "Morning Buzz" by Chuck Trunks

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My friend Chuck Trunks, precision abstract artist based in Camarillo, presents his latest piece, "Morning Buzz." This piece juxtoposes (God I love that word and wish I could use it more often) coffee with something much more colorful...like the spinning tea cup ride at Disneyland. I could be wrong but I see an "E" in this piece that must have some connection to the good ole' "E Ticket" that up until 1982 (my senior year in high school) signified a particularly exciting ride. I sure miss those days! For more of Chuck's work, visit www.chucktrunks.com.

ChaCha for Answers on Your Cell Phone

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Update 9/21/09:  I continue to be pleased at how nicely ChaCha has helped me find information on the go.  For example, on Saturday I was out and about with my kids and decided I wanted to take them to see the new movie, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.  I called 1-800-2ChaCha and asked "Where is the movie 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs' playing near Thousand Oaks, California in the next 2 hours?"  Within a couple minutes I had several choices texted to my cell phone, with movie times and phone numbers!  Worked beautifully! And I was able to do this while driving the car (would have been challenging...and illegal...using an iPhone web browser). (Of course...make sure to stop before reading the text messages.)

What's nice about ChaCha is that you have a virtual personal assistant that does the homework for you! And it is free!

ChaCha is fun for random questions. Like the other day I heard that song "Blinded by the Light" and wondered for the 99th time, what are heck are those lyrics that I never understand?  ChaCha promptly replied that the lyrics for this Manfred Mann Earth Band hit are "Blinded by the light, revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night."  Ah ha!  Learned something new! Now I should call back and ask what those lyrics actually mean!

NOTE: This was previously posted about a year ago but a friend reminded me of ChaCha as a FREE personal assistant.  To summarize ChaCha, it is a free service where you call a toll-free number, ask a question and a real person does the research and texts the answer back to you on your cell phone.  The person who does the research receives 10 cents to 20 cents per answer (I confirmed this by asking ChaCha).  How does ChaCha make money?  Advertising.  I typically receive 3 text messages back from ChaCha...a written confirmation of my question. an advertisement, and an answer.

The ChaCha website is also kind of fun to check out to see what types of questions are currently being asked.  For example, someone asked "How many schools are there in the U.S." and ChaCha replied with "124,110 public/private schools as of 2005."

I tried it at lunch during the 2008 NBA playoffs.  Dialed 800.224.2242 (or 800.2chacha) and asked:  "What is the time and date of the next Lakers playoff game?"  I hung up and within a minute received a text message that confirmed my question and told me I would receive an answer soon. A minute later the next text message said "L.A. Lakers play Denver 5:30 p.m. EDT on TNT.  Lakers lead series 2-0."  So they gave me even more than I asked!

After lunch I tried one more:  "Who was the 5th President of the U.S. and how old was he when he died?"  After the initial reply confirming the question, I heard back:  "James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States (1817-1825).  He died in New York at the age of 73."  So once again, not only did they respond quickly, but with even more than what I asked!

You can also type and text your questions to them at "ChaCha" or 242242. 

Local Trash and Recycling Guidelines in the Conejo Valley

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We seem to always argue in our household about what we are "supposed" to place in the recycling, trash and yard debris containers.  Harrison Industries, one of our local trash collectors in the Conejo Valley (along with Waste Management), publishes guidelines on what we can and cannot do:

Recycling Bin:

milkcarton.jpg

Yes:  Aluminum and metal cans, plastic containers (1-7), plastic bags, hard plastics (including nursery pots, yogurt containers and toys), glass containers, paper and junk mail, newspaper, magazines, cardboard, cereal, cracker and shoe boxes.

No:  Styrofoam, plastic bags or shrink wrap.

The City of Thousand Oaks has some additional tips about the quality of the City’s recycling: Keep plastic bags out of the recycling bin (even if you collect recyclables in them. Dump them out of the bag as it causes problems with sorting them. Rinse any food-contaminated containers before recycling them. And of course, keep all non-recyclables out of the recycling bin.

Yard Debris Bin:

Yes:  Yard trimmings, weeds, leaves, grass, small branches, unpainted/untreated scrap lumber, plants and flowers.

No:  Trash, garden hoses, animal waste, dirt/rocks, yucca/palm, plastic bags, food, recyclables, concrete, metal, flower pots and painted/treated wood.

Trash:

Yes: Well, just trash.  Everything that doesn't go into the recycling and yard debris, with exceptions below.

No:  Hazardous waste, TVs, computer monitors, fluorescent light bulbs, tires, batteries, oil/paint, medical needles.

Bin Spacing:  2 to 3 feet apart. Now there’s been some heated debate on NextDoor regarding whether to put the bins on the curb or in the street in front of the curb. E.J. Harrison says the carts should be placed “with the wheels facing the curb,” which to me infers they should be in the street. I’ve personally always place my bins/carts in the street, and find it quite obnoxious when folks block sidewalks with their trash bins. So I guess you know my feelings on the matter. :)

Hazardous Waste

Thousand Oaks residents can take hazardous waste for disposal by appointment 1 day per month.  Click here to make an appointment.

Materials accepted includes acids, oil, antifreeze, paint, propane, pesticides, batteries, electronics, various household chemical, etc. 

Looking for other places to bring recyclables and hazardous waste?  Check out www.Earth911.org.

Batteries and Fluorescent Bulbs

For several years now it has been illegal to toss used batteries and flourescent bulbs in the trash.  While I am not aware of anyone going to jail for dumping a AA battery into the trash, do the right thing by taking used batteries to a hazardous waste disposal event or taking your batteries to drop-off locations in the area.

Or better yet, switch to rechargeable batteries!