Daily Loaf

Upon meeting most people i can’t help but exclaim how much i love St.Pete, and i try to convince them that their lives will be better if they move here…

I have traveled and lived around, but i believe that St.Pete has been the place where i have found my peace and place the most. It’s where everything has come together for me, like a little neat package.

I gush about the “potential” and current culture of the area, the opportunity for amazing things to happen, if only it would happen quicker! And if only they asked what i thought before they opened TWO “Ultra Lounges” (which no one seems to quite understand the meaning of)!

I deviate from my point here, but i need to mention that both PUSH “Ultra Lounge” and Vintage “Ultra Lounge” cater to the same damn crowd from Weds- Sun… on off days through the week the “club” might think about offering something different …(hint hint i have some awesome ideas)…all people really want is GOOD music and to be able to dance without feeling like you’re in a meat market.

So why, with all St. Pete has to offer, does Tampa have a hipper crowd of people with cool new businesses, stores and lounges opening? Read the rest of this entry »

“What has “Green” ever meant or been associated with for you?” Go ahead, try it. Don’t limit yourself to the media’s current interpretation. Put your green-tinted glasses on, go way back to your childhood and recall everything labeled green. I randomly went up to strangers and tried this question out as a non-threatening ice-breaker. It worked–sparking fun, interesting remembrances that gave us insights on each other’s life experiences.

Theses days anything that can support meaningful conversation, to find connection with another, is a great place to begin. No matter what our beliefs, we’re all roommates on Planet Earth. As we hurtle through space on this relatively small speck of mostly collaborating rocks, soil, water, air, and organisms–we might as well converse. Read the rest of this entry »

Did you know the coral reefs are being suffocated by tourists’ sunscreen? Going to the tanning bed sets up a controlled environment so you can regulate your light absorption and then have a base tan that will help you avoid sunburn and use less sunscreen, therefore preserving the coral reefs and other oceanic life affected by multitudes of tourist sunscreen!

Raydiance Tanning and Spa (and Wellness Gardens and Tea house) offers a multitude of services to keep your lifestyle “green”, healthy and inexpensive. In light of our new proposals for a universal health care system as well as the one already in place it has become all too obvious we need new ways to stay healthy that integrate into our everyday life, because the health care is way too expensive and only used in dire need. There is now a resource to end this cycle of frustration, and it located so conveniently there is no excuse to make a step to integrating preventive health care into your world.

Read the rest of this entry »

While they don’t run the streets, the Gang of Five Four do run our county. Known for their environmental attacks, sprawl creation and developer-friendly wide stance, the Gang of Five has recently controlled the Hillsborough County Commission. That is, until its weakest link was picked off Tuesday by a citizen army fighting for a respectable candidate.

Kevin Beckner has beaten the incumbent Brian Blair!

The gang of 5 consisted of Blair, Norman, White, Higginbotham and Hagan. The board itself has seven members so while it still seems as if the gang will have a majority, the message sent on election day is certain to get through to even the dullest members remaining. The power of an unhappy constituency can still be greater than the dollars of special interest. Beckner and his troops have proven that.

Two other gang members were up for re-election but Hagan had only a questionable write-in and the other, Al Higginbotham, had unknown Pete Gifford to contend with. Gifford had almost no campaign contributions only $4,340 to Higginbotham’s $160,000+ yet he still garnered 30% of the vote without doing much of anything. That should send the message that if someone campaigned in earnest that Higginbotham is vulnerable.

While the war on this gang will probably continue, I have a feeling Beckner’s win might just sway a few of the gang votes in the direction of the community instead of over-developers in the near future. It might also convince them to take citizens a little more seriously instead of just disregarding those citizens willing to get involved. Just a hunch.