Green Gal

On Thursday, I celebrated my 18th birthday as well as the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day in 1970. My mom took me hiking in the morning since school didn't start until 10:40 (thank you STAR testing!). At lunch, my Environmental Club had an Earth Day party and we ate leftover popcorn and had cookies from the night before when we'd shown the film FLOW to the public--at least 100 students attended (most for extra credit) and the event was a huge success. Thursday evening, my family went out to dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant and then at 7:00, we all attended a lecture titled "Sustainability: Then and Now." The City Naturalist Eric Nicholas spoke about how sustainbility was a necessary aspect of life for the Ohlone people who once lived in this abundant valley we now call home. (For more information about the event, see this article: Pleasanton Take Steps toward Sustainability .) After the event, we went home for vegan, gluten-free cake and some prese...

As Spring really takes hold, with rainy days (like today) and then hot, sunny days that feel like summer, I'm getting excited for the end of the school year and for my post-high school adventures. Spring is always a rapid season in the school year, with testing and finals in classes speeding things along and then before you know it, the year's over. I realized this morning that it is the birthday of John Muir, the famous naturalist writer, among other things he was. I don't know if this was done on purpose, but I find it perfect that his birthday is the day before Earth Day. I also think it's something like fate that my birthday is tomorrow, on Earth Day. I didn't really even realize this fact consciously until I started becoming something of an environmentalist and nature-enthusiast myself. My good friend Blue was the first person to tell me "Happy B-Earth Day." I'm glad he was the first to do so, because he's one of the people I was close friends...

Yesterday, April 19, my dad and step-mom, four other Environmental Club members and I attended the Goldman Environmental Prize Ceremony. Here are some pictures from the inspiring event that took place in San Francisco: The ceremony took place in the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center/Opera House. We sat in the top balcony with the other youth groups from the Bay Area. The five of us in our seats at the event. My dad and step-mom came with us. Peter Coyote was the Master of Ceremonies (he narrates The National Parks: America's Best Idea series...I knew I recognized his voice!). You can see him in the bottom left of the picture and on the screen. The man in the wheelchair is Richard N. Goldman , who established the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1990 with his wife Rhoda. With him is his daughter, Susan R. Gelman. Six awards are given out to represent the 6 inhabited areas of Earth. The first award went to Thuli Brilliance Makama of Swaziland, Africa. From the...

I returned from my best friend's grandma's house in Tuolumne on Sunday afternoon and was enjoying my extended time away from the computer, so I didn't post about what I learned at that time and still haven't gotten around to it. I've been mulling the experience over in my head and will eventually write about my time there and what I learned. For now, with so much going on at school and One Act rehearsals beginning tomorrow, I'm just going to share bits of it and let my pictures tell some stories, too... Here are some photos from Thursday, April 8. We bought Strawberry-Rhubarb pie at a stand along Highway 120, visited Knight's Ferry (in which we walked to the Stanislaus River edge and explored the nature and history museum), and had lunch in Sonora before going to Alexys's grandmother's house. My mom and sister drove us up there. One thing I learned while I was staying in Tuolumne is that in the Me-Wuk tribe, there are different clans, like the Turtle...

It's official. I've posted it on Facebook, we bought the family t-shirts and sweatshirts, and my dad even bought himself a "Dad" mug. Oh yeah, and I accepted admission on the website. I am going to UC Santa Cruz in the Fall! We visited the campus yesterday for their Spring Spotlight tour and I fell in love with everything about the school. I learned a lot during the tour and I'm now so excited for next year. Though I saw one in fifth grade at Outdoor Ed, I can't wait to see my first banana slug at Santa Cruz and give it a kiss! Their skin makes your tongue numb if you lick them and they have no known predators! Woohoo! Here are some pictures from the visit. Credit for the photos goes to my dad, who snapped pictures during the entire tour! College Nine. There are 10 colleges and every student is a part of one. They create smaller communities on the large campus. My first choice is Stevenson College, but a lot of them look interesting. The total enrollment at U...

As I have mentioned here before, my best friend Alexysjayd is Native American. Though she is Cherokee and Choctaw, her family moved to the Sonora area and her grandmother and family live with the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians (if you visit the website, be sure to turn the sound on!). The Tuolumne Me-Wuk are known for their annual Acorn Festival in September, which I hope to attend this year. I plan on studying anthropology, Native Americans, and ethnobotany (also a some wildlife education would be cool) in college next year--likely at UC Santa Cruz--so I am very much looking forward to next week when Alexys brings me up to her grandmother's house to spend time at the reservation, learning about the Me-Wuk people and spending time in Sonora, possibly horseback riding, hiking and exploring. I've been going to Pinecrest since I was a baby, and Sonora is a town nearby that I love exploring. It can't be mere coincidence that Alexys and I became best friends within a week of ...