Articles by Sunshine

Living in OB has brought me to a new understanding as to what a great community can be. Walkable town, caring neighbors and dogs, dogs, dogs! It's heaven on Earth and I am home.

Sunshine has written 11 articles for the OB Rag!

“Bad Habit” – Safe Haven for Smokers?

June 12, 2012 by Sunshine

Looking at the streets, sidewalks, gutters, alleyways, and ashtrays around the village, cigarette smoking is still popular in OB. Just take a look in front at any open restaurant, bar, or other venue in town and you’ll see a host of smokers puffing away. When I inquiring as to how they afford their cigarettes which averaging $5 per pack the majority shared that they simply shell out the $$$. A few replied they choose to go without and a host of others simply ask others for them.

Well, smokers, here’s some good news for you and your wallet; a safe haven for smokers has arrived in OB. It’s a shop where smokers are welcome, wanted, and appreciated. Bad Habit is its name and “rollin your own” is its game.

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City Council overly-restricts medical marijuana dispensaries

March 29, 2011 by Sunshine
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I supported San Diego’s Stop the Ban campaign Monday (March 28) by attending a rally in front of City Hall. So many people showed up in opposition of this ban that not all of us could get into the building or inside the council chambers. There were some great messages rolling through the crowd on homemade signs. My personal favorites were: “Patient not pothead”, “Plants not pills”, and “Marijuana is a gateway drug” its punny message surrounded by junk food packaging.

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Ocean Beach – My Soul’s True Home

March 22, 2011 by Sunshine
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The vibrations of peace, calm, and freedom that dwell in Ocean Beach drew me here time and time again. Each time I visited this small little beach community the desires of my heart were loud and clear. Each visit more pleasant than the previous. Over the course of eight years I was drawn to the shoreline of Ocean Beach for healing, rest, reflection, and renewal. No other town I’ve been to in this country welcomed me unconditionally the way Ocean Beach has.

Deciding to sell my home in the desert to rent here for double what my mortgage payment was may have sounded unwise to some. Yet I was drawn here by powers beyond my human understanding.

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Point-In-Time-Count, Part 2

January 30, 2011 by Sunshine
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The Point In Time Count (PITC) of the homeless surveys were conducted this morning in Ocean Beach. As my alarm went off at 6am, I thought to myself, “what am I doing up at this hour? why did I commit to reporting Part 2 of 2 in this series on the Point-In-Time-Count?” It suddenly didn’t seem like my brightest idea to date. Yet, after what I witnessed today it was well worth the early wake up call.

By the time I arrived at the First Baptist Church at 7:30am where the surveys would be conducted, I was freezing and wishing I had worn my toe socks.

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Counting the Homeless in Ocean Beach and Beyond – Part 1

January 28, 2011 by Sunshine
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This is Part 1 of 2 Parts about the Point In Time Count (PITC) in San Diego and what took place in Ocean Beach at 4:00am this morning. My first question to Tim Sandiford, Regional Volunteer Coordinator for Central San Diego, was “what are you doing here at 4am?”  He answered: “The PITC uses different […]

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Winter Solstice

December 21, 2010 by Sunshine
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Originally published December 21, 2009 Midwinter festivals and celebrations occurring on the longest night of the year, often calling for evergreens, bright illumination, large ongoing fires, feasting, communion with close ones, and evening physical exertion by dancing and singing are examples of cultural winter therapies that have evolved as traditions since the beginnings of civilization. […]

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‘I’m disillusioned too … American dream, my ass!’

July 16, 2010 by Sunshine
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Editor: This rant by Sunshine is in response to Scott’s Reader Rant that was posted yesterday, “I was living the American dream…. Now I’m angry.”

I’m disillusioned too, Scott. American Dream, my ass. I owned a 3 bd/2bath house with all the room my young son & I needed and then some for 14 years. 14 years of fixing broken items, repairing near worn out parts, cutting the grass, and complying with ridiculous Homeowner Association rules and regulations. A dream?…more like a nightmare.

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Mindy Pellissier – from a dog wash to serving Ocean Beach for 17 years

February 27, 2010 by Sunshine
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Meandering west along Voltaire Street I begin to notice of how truly “walkable” this area of our community is. The towering trees provide much needed fresh air and shade; the sidewalks clean and lit at night by brightly painted light poles; there are virtually no traces of doggie doo anywhere; many shops have their doors open with business in full swing. From all appearances, Voltaire Street is alive and well in this current economy.

As I approach Mindy Pellissier’s shop, Dog Beach Dog Wash, at 4933 Voltaire, I notice large coolers of fresh water perched atop custom made semi-circular wooden benches out front. They hover directly above clean dog water bowls that rest on green outdoor turf. It’s only a matter of moments before the first of many passing pooches stops for a refreshing drink of cool water.

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Moonbeam reflects on origins of People’s Food Store

January 22, 2010 by Sunshine
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by Sunshine

Women. Questing, contrary, willful, inventive, questioning women. We are women who name ourselves and announce ourselves as the oracles we are. Breaking the mirror of deceit that kept us tamed, framed, within the mirror, the cage. Unbound in this world, free to achieve our hearts desires.

I am reminded of such women by Laughing Womyn’s (Whispers of Our Knowings by Laughing Womyn Ashonosheni) words on First Woman.

“Return, return, sisters, with me to the time of our origins. Remember First Woman…she whose body was made from this Earth, molded and shaped to carry and birth the coming generations of children, of ideas, of human ways of being. Remember, sisters, when we gave birth to words, and writing, and counting. Remember our healing ways, our artwork, our ways of expressing ourselves, our strong muscles and bones, our minds that fly with our souls.”

Women like this have lived in OB for generations.

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Walk across America ends in OB

November 9, 2009 by Sunshine
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by Sunshine / November 9, 2009

I feel privileged to have just witnessed this man, Sinh Tho Nguyen, conclude his walk across America right here in OB on November 8th. He left the east coast’s Atlantic Shore on June 10th and literally walked across this fine country of ours.

As we freely approached him on the shores of the Pacific, he was shaking from the cold. Some kind OBcean took off their jacket and gifted it to him. His demeanor is kind. He appeared awed and exuded gratitude for all of America.

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From OB to Burning Man and back – with pics

September 24, 2009 by Sunshine
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by Sunshine

As my son, Van, and I planned and prepared for this years trip to Burning Man, I had no expectations and really no idea what would occur. What can I say to sum up such an epic journey that it ultimately transformed my entire existence?

For months before the event, we planned ~ I, of course, made my usual notes and massive to-do lists ~ checking off everything as we went: shop for supplies, have the van checked, and eventually pack up for the long journey away from OB.

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