Coastal screed

The vision of an 'urban corridor stretching from Los Angeles to San Diego' will eventually destroy the coastal zone in Southern California and pollute the ocean so badly; nobody will be able to swim there anymore. Most of this coastline resides in Orange County ..and from what I've seen .. Orange County leaders are not good stewards of the land. When shortsighted urban planners ran out of room ..they wanted to extend a six-lane freeway over one of the few remaining coastal habitats in California ..the San Mateo creek near San Clemente. OC leaders immediately got in a fight with the coastal community; a vicious breed of environmentalists and surfers. It was a battle OC couldn't win. After fighting for 20 years ..20 fucking years .. they lost Thursday when the US Department of Commerce agreed with the coastal community and refused to approve it. First, I am amazed that the Federal government, under the Bush Administration, would go along with anything in the interest of California ..especially anything having to do with the environment. I applaud them. Second, I'm frightened by the bullheaded, right-wing conservative leaders in Orange County who fought so hard for the right to foul their environment. I was particularly concerned when I heard Tustin councilman Jerry Amante say that he doesn't feel it's in his interest to protect the coastline. The San Mateo creek is a natural watershed that, like other wetlands, cleanses runoff before entering the ocean. It flows into the ocean just above San Onofre ..one of the few places left where you can still camp on the beach. It flows directly into a legendary surf spot called Trestles ..a break that is actually formed from sediments deposited by the creek. Now, I'm not talking about protecting the birds or other wildlife ..I'm talking about protecting the people who live there ..but I guess that's not in the interest of Orange County.

North wind

An arctic wind blows through my door .. leaves and other debris scatter across the floor. Big wave season has begun. Although I don’t actually surf them ..they’re definitely major league ..I feel the anticipation. I sit on the beach and watch 25-foot swells pound the shore ..starting from Aleutian storms ..they move swiftly down the coast ..falling like dominoes on beaches from Mavericks to Todos Santos. I feel the energy crackling on my skin ..and the rhythm beating in my veins. I must have been a sea creature in a past life. I have a friend who's a big wave surfer. He tells me that he hears his rational brain screaming: “No Fucking Way” ..while feeling a rush, coming from some other part of his brain ..reminding him what an awesome experience it is to blow those apprehensions away. I think he’s a junkie ..caught in a cycle where icy adrenaline turns into fluid exhilaration.

Net interest

I admit I don’t follow pop culture ..I have no idea who P Diddy is. But I am fascinated by things that happen over the Internet .. and that’s usually how I find out what’s happening in pop culture. The Internet has the power to survive a devastating attack ..and keep sending messages; no celebrity can compete with that. Samantha Ronson tried to stop a story from appearing on the net ..only to see it amped, replicated ..and get more distorted with each re-telling. A car accident, that happened over a year ago, involving Lindsay Lohan ..turned into a tale of betrayal and intrigue with bloggers accusing Ronson of making money by setting up Lohan for the paparazzi. Ronson fought back by hiring a high-power attorney from the East Coast, who apparently had no idea what kind of power he was dealing with on the West Coast. They filed a defamation suit. The result wasn’t exactly what they expected ..a small-time blog got a big-time audience ..spawning even more salacious stories about Lohan and Ronson. Now she’s suing him for incompetence ..and he is counter-suing for unpaid fees ..saying he cannot work with “celebrity trash.” Next time I think he should try finding out what he’s up against .. because there’s no way to retract statements once they’re on the net ..information persists. However, I don’t think he should underestimate himself ..his lame attempts at litigation made him quite a successful provider of “celebrity trash.”

nowhere zone

A bell rings ~ I remind myself to sit straight ..take some deep breaths ..and be mindful. But my mind wanders ..flashing on images of people I’d like to see ..and asking them what they think about my latest harebrain idea. I gently bring myself back to the present ..and pay my respects to the pull of the ego. Now I hear children playing .. I feel a smile rise ..and remember something somebody once told me ..it’s better to live by a noisy schoolyard than a cemetery. Now I hear the swoosh of cars on Anapamu Street ..and I pay my respects to the sounds that pass by my little span of attention. I’m returning to the present moment without a clue where I was the moment before ~ now I’m answering a question that someone asked me yesterday ~ and I’m asking myself what that’s all about ~ now I hear myself shushing me ~ now I’m telling myself to quit shushing me.

Coastal zone

We used to call them swamps. Oil companies dumped sludge into them. Real estate developers excavated them ..and built pricey coastal communities like Marina Del Rey. Just north of there, surfers in Santa Monica began getting sick ..with symptoms ranging from skin rashes to heart attacks. I used to get ear infections. Investigators discovered high levels of toxins in the water ..both natural and man-made ..and began closing beaches for like months at a time. We don’t call them swamps any longer. They’re ‘estuaries’ ..and they serve a purpose .. filtering runoff before it goes into the ocean ..removing contaminants .. keeping the shoreline hospitable ..and the ocean sustainable (ask a fisherman). The Bolsa Chica wetlands is the only one remaining in Southern California that hasn’t been developed to the point where it’s lost all of that. A 40-year old feud between developers and environmentalists has kept it that way. Fanatical environmentalists. I’ll bet you there’s not one person surfing the river jetty who hasn’t gotten sick.

Wave action

The atmosphere looks blurry .. and the sky is a pale shade of blue. But the water has shape .. and slams me back to shore. The sky is fuchsia ..stars are shining ..and colorful dancers twirl by ..while others just float. I shake my head and they turn into a flock of birds. I lie there and let the white water wash over me ..remembering something that I heard one time ..telling me not to mistake the waves for water ..waves are the expression of a force passing through water .. appearing as a ferocious beast to anyone that hasn’t got sense enough to either plug-in or bail-out ..before it reaches shore. I drag my sorry-ass back to the sand ..and bow my head in hommage to the deities of the deep blue sea.