SLO LIFE Magazine Jun/Jul 2012

FRENCH HOSPITAL IS Proud to be named one of the natIon’S 100 toP hoSPItalS® You don’t have to travel far to receive the best health care in the nation. French Hospital Medical Center is the only hospital on the Central Coast named among the top 100 hospitals in the country by Thomson Reuters. This latest honor complements French Hospital's recent award as one of the 50 Top Cardiac Hospitals® in the nation. Earning these unsolicited awards, based on publicly reported statistics from a field of nearly 3,000 hospitals, illustrates our dedication to the highest standards of safe, quality patient care. frenchmedicalcenter.org

PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE

For a dad, “pick up duty” is often an uncomfortable experience. The time spent waiting outside the kids’ classroom for the final bell to ring and the students to be excused for the day can be an eternity. Invariably, the moms huddle together in excited conversation that picks up exactly where it had left off the day before while the dads struggle to find something to talk about to each other beyond, “Hey, man - how’s it going?” It was during one of those interactions about a year ago that the idea was born to form a softball team comprised completely of fathers of students at Bishop’s Peak Elementary. A sign up sheet began circulating to find out who had Monday nights open. Shortly thereafter, the “B.P. Dads” softball team took the field for the first time.

That first season we were awful - I mean really bad. It’s a rare thing to see someone strike out in slow pitch softball, but we notched our share of whiffs. My favorite memory from our first game came when one of the Dads (a native of Great Britain who had never played baseball nor seen a game) somehow made it to first base with one out - I’m pretty sure he reached on an error. The next Dad popped up to the leftfielder and the British Dad, who had been running on the play, made it all the way to third base when the outfielder caught the ball for the second out. As he was casually standing on third, we all started jumping up and down frantically yelling at him to get back to first base, so he did… by running straight across the pitcher’s mound to first (instead of running along the base path through second then first, as is required).

We won just two games that first season. But, in fairness to us, many of the teams we played in the lowest rung of city league were stacked with young Cal Poly kids just a couple years out of their prime high school baseball playing days. Despite the mounting losses and frequent injuries, we were having a blast. After each game, an MVP was voted on by the team and the chosen Dad was awarded the “Ollie,” which is a makeshift trophy fashioned from an old Olympia Beer can. As bad as we were, someone always took home the Ollie.

When the next season rolled around, we improved to three wins and the B.P. Dads’ reputation was growing on campus. Plus, now there was stuff to talk about while waiting for the kids. Other fathers were taking note and began inquiring about signing up to play. Soon, we had so much interest that we realized we could actually form our own league, which we did for the first time this spring. Finally, we would be able to play some other teams who would be more on our level, and the wins would pile up - except they didn’t. Turns out that many of the kids at Bishop’s Peak have fathers who can still swing the bat pretty well, and we finished the season in last place, but with our heads held high knowing that there’s always next season.

This issue of SLO LIFE Magazine carries special significance, as it marks our two-year anniversary. I would like to take a moment to say “thank you” to our advertisers who make it possible, to everyone who works so hard to publish it, and to you for your continued support.

Live the SLO Life!

Tom Franciskovich tom@slolifemagazine.com

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PUBLISHER

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Tom Franciskovich Sheryl Disher

Jeanette Trompeter Paden Followwill Demitria Castanon

Aaron Lambert Cameron Ingalls Megan Eldredge Steve Willison Stephan Gonzales William Hauser

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LETTERS TO THE PUBLISHER/EDITOR: 4251 S. Higuera Street, Suite 800 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

Letters chosen for publication may be edited for clarity and space limitations.

DIVINE PHOTOGRAPHY

Dear SLO LIFE, Here is a photo taken in the hills of Arroyo Grande with the sunset and ocean in the background. These are two Mission High School students. The photographer who is also in the photo is Sophomore Cassidy Straw and she lives in San Luis Obispo. She totally set up the frames, and in my opinion (but then again I am her mother) captured a moment of what it means to be young and alive and live in this beautiful place. The name of the shot is “Divine.”

Thanks, Nancy Bodily

Thank you for contacting us, Nancy. Your daughter is quite the photographer! We’re sure that our readers will enjoy this photo as much as we do, so here it is…

received many phone calls and emails following publication of our last issue, which profiled Court Street in the Places feature. It turns out the Anderson Hotel was incorrectly identified in the shot as the “brick building in the foreground.” It is actually the white building off to the right. Thank you to those of you who pointed this out to us – we very much appreciate it, and it was a pleasure to learn about one of our local treasures from you (including where it’s actually located).

That black and white ad you are running on television right now is so creative! I have never heard the Truth About Seafood before but I really liked their music and like to support local music as much as I can. Would you mind giving me a call to let me know where they are playing? My cell is...

- Joe Borell Arroyo Grande

Just calling to say how much I love the new T.V. commercials you are running right now. I love those guys, Truth About Seafood, and have seen them many times over the years live. Just wanted to say “great job” that’s all. And if you could pass that along to the band, that’d be great. You don’t need to call me back.

DIVINE PHOTOGRAPHY

Dear SLO LIFE, Here is a photo taken in the hills of Arroyo Grande with the sunset and ocean in the background. These are two Mission High School students. The photographer who is also in the photo is Sophomore Cassidy Straw and she lives in San Luis Obispo. She totally set up the frames, and in my opinion (but then again I am her mother) captured a moment of what it means to be young and alive and live in this beautiful place. The name of the shot is “Divine.”

Thanks, Nancy Bodily

Thank you for contacting us, Nancy. Your daughter is quite the photographer! We’re sure that our readers will enjoy this photo as much as we do, so here it is…

We received many phone calls and emails following publication of our last issue, which profiled Court Street in the Places feature. It turns out the Anderson Hotel was incorrectly identified in the shot as the “brick building in the foreground.” It is actually the white building off to the right. Thank you to those of you who pointed this out to us – we very much appreciate it, and it was a pleasure to learn about one of our local treasures from you (including where it’s actually located).

That black and white ad you are running on television right now is so creative! I have never heard the Truth About Seafood before but I really liked their music and like to support local music as much as I can. Would you mind giving me a call to let me know where they are playing? My cell is...

- Joe Borell Arroyo Grande

Just calling to say how much I love the new T.V. commercials you are running right now. I love those guys, Truth About Seafood, and have seen them many times over the years live. Just wanted to say “great job” that’s all. And if you could pass that along to the band, that’d be great. You don’t need to call me back. - unknown

Katie Lichtig

She grew up in Los Angeles, on the west side. She credits her mother, who survived breast cancer for 25 years, as the inspiration for much of what she has accomplished personally and professionally. Breaking barriers throughout her life, she is the first woman to be the City Manager of San Luis Obispo where she oversees all 350 city employees. She has served as a federal special agent but found local government to be her calling. Today, she is two-and-a-half years into the job. We catch up with her one afternoon to get to know her a little better…

What was childhood like for you?

It was a really active, athletic childhood. I played tennis, skied, played baseball. I was the first girl at Rancho Park to play in the Little League there. They actually wouldn’t let me play at the park that was closest to my house because they wouldn’t consider allowing a girl. But, this other park that was a little further away decided to make an exception. So, my parents allowed me to do it, and I signed up. The coach lived across the street from us. And when he put me in the lineup, I hit a triple and there was a big celebration on our block that day. If I had better wheels, it would have been a home run.

How’d you go from triples in Little League to city management?

I actually knew in junior high school that this was my passion, to serve. I was involved in student government the whole time I was in school, including in college, so it was in my blood. It was in my soul. I describe my profession as a calling, so it’s always been part of what I love to do. I went off to school at UC Davis for a Public Service degree and to Syracuse University for my Masters in Public Administration. From there, I spent nine years in the Federal Government rotating through various agencies. I started off in the Treasury Department and kind of fell in love with doing law enforcement work. I decided I wanted to become more involved, so I went to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center to become a certified special agent. And, so I was a “T-woman.”

Just what is a “T-woman” exactly?

Treasury Woman. The Treasury Department has thirteen different bureaus, the IRS, which we all know, but there are many others. I worked for the Inspector General’s

Office doing criminal investigations in the non-law enforcement bureaus for any crime that was committed. We were looking for fraud, waste, and abuse within the government as a result of criminal activity. One of the biggest cases I had was when there was a purchasing agent who was buying computers for the agency, taking possession of them, and then selling them to pawn shops.

But you left federal government? I felt like I wasn’t making very much of a difference. Finding things that were going to change the system were just not happening. So, while I was doing a lot of good work - holding people accountable for stealing from the government - I wasn’t really changing people’s lives.

I bet the guy who pawned those computers would beg to differ! [laughter] Good point. His life

definitely changed. But, seriously, I started to really think about it, and I came to the conclusion that I could make a much bigger impact in local government. Whether it’s big stuff like having open space and planning for our land use or it’s the little stuff like getting the garbage picked up or filling the pothole, every day people are impacted by local government.

Where do you get your drive?

The person who I have been most empowered by was my mom. And I have had some challenges. I happen to be dyslexic. From an early age they thought it may have been some other problem that they couldn’t identify. They couldn’t figure out why I don’t do standardized tests very well. My mom had a commitment to empowering me and encouraging me to be the best that I could be and to overcome and take me

to tutors. I always felt like I was successful in her presence and that I could do anything I wanted to do. And, so I felt very empowered by that and very loved and cared for and encouraged. It has meant that I have had a high level of persistence. For me, it’s always been about, head down, ears pinned back dedication to doing what needs to get done.

How do you balance your busy schedule with your personal life?

My husband, Mark, is the head of a non-profit in LA that provides job training and job opportunities to people in poverty and who are homeless. Most of the time, he’s able to make it up here around 6 or 7 o’clock on a Friday night. He has actually gone off and gotten his pilot’s license and most of the time he’s able to fly back on Monday mornings, so that has given us more time together on the weekends.

What brought you to San Luis? Three years ago when I was the Assistant City Manager in Beverly Hills, I decided to go on an Outward Bound trip. It was eight days in the woods of North Carolina. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do next in my career and my private life. And, one of the things I had identified was that I wanted to be a city manager again. I had been a city manager for four-and-a-half years in Malibu, the longest tenured city manager there, before I went to Beverly Hills to work for a full-serviced city. I felt that I could contribute something and be of service to a community. And what’s beautiful about the San Luis Obispo community is that the expectations are high. I feel that the people here really want the best from us, and I feel that I can contribute to that. So, from a career perspective this is pretty much nirvana.

Prefumo Canyon

The spring storms this year produced much needed rain and some dramatic skies, as captured here by professional photographer Lance Kinney, who is based in Avila. Kinney, who spent his youth in the seventies traveling around attending workshops of photography legends such as Ansel Adams, Steve Crouch, Morley Baer, and the sons of his favorite, Edward Weston, Cole and Brett Weston. On this particular mid-April day, Kinney, on a whim, decided to go up to the top of the Irish Hills to see what Mother Nature would reveal. “It had been raining pretty hard, but I could see that the storm was breaking a little bit and I had a hunch that it may yield some pretty amazing shots,” he remembers. Kinney set up his tripod at the top of the ridge looking southwest toward Shell Beach, a vantage point not often photographed. Kinney, who says that he “doesn’t know how to use Photoshop,” deemed this the best photo of the approximately one hundred he took that stormy afternoon. SLO LIFE

Do you have an amazing photo to share? Email it to places@slolifemagazine.com

MEET RICH SEUBERT

BY AARON LAMBERT AND WILLIAM HAUSER

In this installment of our “Meet Your Neighbor” series, SLO LIFE Magazine sits down for a conversation with Rich Seubert. He grew up in rural Wisconsin, where he excelled at football and basketball. After being told that he was too small to play college football at a major university, he landed a spot at Western Illinois where he played on the offensive line. A chance meeting with NFL scouts led to a tryout with the New York Giants, where his stellar ten-year career prompted Giant’s General Manager to remark that he was “the team MVP.” Eighteen months ago, he was laying crushing blocks on Sundays, but a devastating knee injury brought it all to a premature end. Together with his wife, Jodi, they have two boys, Hunter and Isaac, aged seven and five, and a one-year-old daughter, Hailey. They moved to San Luis Obispo in December. Here is his story…

Where did you get your start, Rich?

I grew up in Wisconsin. I went to a small high school, about the size of Mission Prep, called Columbus Catholic High School in Marshfield. We had 42 kids in our graduating class. My wife and I went to the same high school and started dating about two weeks before we graduated. I went off to college at Western Illinois University. None of the Big 10 schools wanted me, I was too small. People are told that they can’t do things their whole lives, right? But, if you work hard enough and put your mind to something you can do about whatever you want. I played tight end my freshman year and moved to tackle my second year.

What happened next?

We had pro scouts coming to check out two of our star players, Edgerton Hartwell and William James. I hopped into the workouts when the scouts showed up. I ran a good 40-yard dash time and had a good bench press. The draft came around, and I was at my sister’s house in Peoria, Illinois, and I kind of figured that my name wasn’t going to be called, but I wasn’t going to let it bother me. I had heard some teams might be interested in trying me out after the draft as a free agent.

So you went undrafted?

That’s right, but I was invited to a mini camp [tryouts] with the Giants. It was the week before finals my senior year. They fly you out. You don’t know anybody. You don’t know any of the coaches. You feel like a freshman at

college again; it feels like the first day of school. It’s pretty nerve-wracking. You walk into that locker room, and you’ve got Michael Strahan sitting over there and Tiki Barber over here, Kerry Collins, the quarterback at the time, Jason Seahorn. And, I didn’t know any of them. The Giants were in the Super Bowl the year before so you kind of knew the players from watching that game when they lost to Baltimore. You’re intimidated by the atmosphere, but you realize that you are there for a job, too.

What do you remember about your first play in the league?

It was a preseason game against Baltimore. The first play called was a toss, and I was in charge of blocking Ray Lewis [All-Pro linebacker]. And, I was like, “How am I going to get to him?” [laughter] I ran as fast as I could, and I dove for his knees. He might have yelled at me for cutting him [blocking below the waist] in preseason, but I was trying to make the team. I think I got a piece of him. I’m not going to say I made the block, but I don’t think he made the tackle. It was fun.

How did you learn that you had made the team?

The last morning was cut day, and they said they were going to start making phone calls to our hotel rooms. It was me and my roommate, who was another offensive guard. One of us was going to go. They can only keep so many. The phone rang, and neither one of us wanted to pick it up. I picked it up, and they asked for him, and he goes in, and I don’t see him the rest of the day. We went back into the weight room, and everyone

PHOTOS

Rich Seubert (69), center

is lifting and congratulating each other on making the team, and the strength coach says, “There’s still going to be one more cut.” And you start looking around again and doing the math and trying to figure out if you’re the one to go. I made the team that year and played special teams and back up lineman. My second year I started every game at guard.

Speaking of special teams, weren’t you involved in a rather infamous play against the 49ers?

It was the playoffs. We had an opportunity to win it with about ten seconds on the clock. I was playing tight end on the field goal team, and there was a botched snap, so I headed out for a pass. The ball was thrown to me, and I got tackled before the ball got to me. It should have been called pass interference. They came back later, and said they made a mistake. It was clearly pass interference. They replayed it again this year when the Giants were in the playoffs. That play was my claim to fame. I was at the five-yard line, and I had the guy beat by about fifteen yards. The holder threw a lollipop pass - a rainbow - if he would have led me, it would have been an easy touchdown, if I caught it. I had to stop and wait for it, so the defender ran into me and pulled me down [you can watch the play by going to this article at slolifemagazine.com].

What was your favorite type of play?

If you play offensive line, run blocking is what you want to do. You don’t want to sit back in pass protection. You want to run the ball. It shows your toughness, it shows your strength. Our offensive line always took pride in running down the field and finishing plays. If the ball is on the ground, we’re going to get it back. I’m looking for someone that’s smaller than me - you don’t want to pick the big guy. The joke is that if there’s a safety or a linebacker, who are you going to take out? I’m taking out the safety. The running back can juke the linebacker, the safety is the better athlete so I’m going to take him out. But, there’s a lot of open space, they’re smaller, they’re shiftier, so they’re hard to get. And, it’s happened to me where Eli [Manning] throws a pick [interception] and all of the sudden, “Wham!” You’re getting ear-holed [hit from the blindside]. It’s like, “Come on, man. I wasn’t going to make the tackle.” But, it’s football and that’s what you like. It’s either hit or be hit. That’s why you play hard and never stop because you don’t know what’s going to happen next.

You sustained a pretty nasty injury early in your career - can you tell us what happened?

We were playing Philly in my third year and N.D. Kalu, their defensive end, basically stepped on the back of my leg, and it shattered. It wasn’t like he meant to do it. It just happened. Every play you have a chance of getting hurt, and he stepped on it just right. I was in the hospital for three weeks. Stuff went wrong. I had Compartment Syndrome, my leg swelled up so they cut me open on both sides of my leg to get the swelling down. Basically, if they don’t catch it, you lose your leg. I had eight surgeries. Our head trainer came in the day after the first surgery to put in the rod and plate and screws and he asked me, “Can you feel your foot?” And, I said, “Uh… I don’t know.” And, he said, “I’ve been touching it for the last five minutes.” I couldn’t feel my foot. So, I was put back into surgery. And you’re all looped-up on the pain medication so you don’t know what’s

going on, and you wake up and there is a big bandage around your leg. And then they tell you what they did. They took me into surgery again a week later. But they couldn’t close the leg up because it was still too swollen. So, I wake up from my next surgery, and my upper leg is killing me and I asked them why that area was hurting me now. And they told me that they had to do a skin graft - basically taking skin from my thigh to close up the cuts, which had been too swollen to close. My wife went through a lot that year because she was my nurse, basically. It was a yearand-a-half before I made it back.

But, obviously, you made a comeback. My first game back was against Kansas City at home. The first game I started was basically two years since I played last. The guy ahead of me got hurt, and I made my way back to the first team. I never felt so miserable in my entire life when I got done with that game. I was so sore. Tiki ran the ball for over 200 yards. If I had blocked a few more guys, he would have had 300. But, it was great to be back, and it made me want to work harder for the next year. Then 2007 rolled around and I started the full season. I was healthy, I felt good, and we won the Super Bowl that year.

That was one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history. Tell us about that amazing final drive.

The last drive went fast. Eli always said he’d rather be down four than down three and going for a field goal, because when you are going for a field goal, the offensive coordinator tightens up and gets conservative with the play calling. When you need a touchdown, they open it up. We knew that we were going to get four downs every series, and we had to get a touchdown. We just had to find a way to get it done. The first set of downs we got to fourth-and-one on our own 30-yard-line. We had to go for it. There was not enough time on the clock to get the ball back if we punted. The call was for an “iso” [man on man blocking] up the middle, a hand-off to Brandon Jacobs. We made it, and from there, it was essentially a spread offense where we were pass blocking.

What about David Tyree’s famous “helmet catch” on that drive - what do you remember?

The play to Tyree everybody got beat, the play would never have happened if it weren’t for the O-line getting beat so bad [laughter]. The defense ran some play and tricked us. Eli was surrounded, and we all ran back to try to get a piece of somebody, and Eli just chucked it up. That’s all I remember, seeing him chuck it down the middle of the field, and I thought, “Uh oh, this doesn’t look good.” It was an incredible catch. I was happy for David, he’s a good guy. His mother passed away that year, and it was nice to see something good happen to him. It’s the little things, you never know what’s going to happen. It just went our way.

Where did your career go from there?

I played the full season after the Super Bowl. We were tops in the league in rushing, had home field advantage in the playoffs. We lost to Philadelphia at home in the playoffs. The year after that we didn’t make the playoffs. I blew my knee out the last game of the season. That was about a year-and-a-half ago. I was blocking a guy in pass protection, and

I was anchored in and my foot got stuck in the turf, and I felt my knee pop. I thought I broke my leg again because I felt it in my rod from my previous injury. I thought it had somehow shot out of my knee. I didn’t know what was going on. I looked down, and my knee was pointing in the wrong direction over to the right. The pain was worse than when I broke my leg. This was right around Christmastime and Jodi was in Wisconsin for the holidays. I had to ride the train back from D.C. to New York for surgery a few days later. I knew it wasn’t good from what the doctor was telling me during the surgeries. But, every good thing comes to an end, and my kids were getting older and I really enjoy them and wanted to spend more time with my family. The Giants released me injured once the lockout ended, that was last August. I don’t have any bad feelings. I had promised the kids that we were going to go to the zoo the day I got the news, so we went to the zoo, and I made a few phone calls. It was a good day.

Tell us about Cal Poly star Ramses Barden who is trying to get some playing time with the Giants. I was with Ramses for two years. He’s a good kid. He’s big. He’s tall. He wants to do it. He’s had a couple of injuries over the last couple of years that have kind of slowed him up. Hopefully, he can get over that injury stuff because I think he’s got the potential, I think he’s got the work ethic. He just needs to stay healthy. In the NFL, staying healthy is the hard part. I joked around with him saying that I’d take good care of his town while he was away.

Come on, Rich, be honest… were you watching Oprah when she named us the “Happiest City?”

[laughter] No, no… we actually had Oprah beat on that one. We started looking at places here two or three years ago when we decided we wanted to move out here when we were done - whenever that would be. I have a friend that lives out here, and we started coming out to visit him during the offseason once or twice a year for two weeks at a time during the last

eight or nine years. We’d hang out and just enjoy it. The weather here is pretty much perfect for me. I don’t like it too hot, and I don’t like it too cold. So, this is it. And the people are nice. You don’t get honked at if you stay at a green light too long like you would in New York. It reminds me of the Midwest growing up in Wisconsin… but, the weather. You don’t get snow. So, we’re still learning the ropes. I’m still getting used to putting a sweatshirt on in the morning and taking it off by noon. We enjoy it, our family is having a good time here.

What’s life like for you now?

My life revolves around my kids. I’m running around picking them up then it’s off to t-ball, baseball, basketball, and we’re going to start karate here pretty soon. Whatever my kids want to do, I’ll find time to get it done. And they like doing everything. I’m coaching O-line at Mission Prep, I love football, it’s all I’ve ever done and I truly enjoy being around the guys. I’ve always had good coaches, so I hope I can help the kids out and help the team. One of the goals is to win a championship. We can do it at Mission. We’ve got the kids, and we’ve got the work ethic. We can get it done over there. I also put on a football camp back in Wisconsin every year. I enjoy it and try to get kids active in whatever they want to do. I don’t care if it’s football, baseball, basketball, volleyball, soccer… just to get them active. As long as they’re doing something. Kids should have the opportunity to do everything. I don’t think they should specialize in one sport and just work on that because, let’s be honest, what’s the percentage of kids going on to play at the next level? I know everybody’s dreams are high, which they should be; my dreams were high as a kid, too, but I didn’t know I was going to play in the NFL, it just kind of happened. But, I loved playing. I loved playing basketball more than I loved playing football. But, look at where it got me. If I had just concentrated on basketball, who knows what I’d be doing now? So, my advice is to let them do what they want to do. You only live once, so you might as well enjoy it. SLO LIFE

THE PARENT FAMILY IN THE DINING ROOM OF THE ISLAY STREETHOME, 1948 back row (left to right) Nettie Alberta, Claire Eleanor, Dorothy Lee, John Carroll Jr., Claudia Victoria, Grace Malone and Lucy Anne Albertine seated Nettie and John Carroll Parent

If houses could talk, this one would tell a wonderful story. Also, this house, itself, was wonderful to all of us. There, our lives were full of children, the ones who belonged to us and the ones who came to visit. The house was also full of drama, music, love, the smell of baking bread and pies, all the normal joys, and also the difficulties life brings to each of us.

- Grace Parent Miller

Historical Gem

The Carlaw Home

PHOTOS BY STEPHAN GONZALES

Shortly after buying their home on Islay Street in 1994, there was a knock on the front door. It was the grandson of Grace Parent Miller, the daughter of one of the Old Victorian home’s early owners. Curious about the new inhabitants, he stopped by to share the history of the home, originally built in the 1890’s, and the story of the family who lived there. The Carlaws invited him in and were fascinated by the many vivid tales of the Parent Family. Then, ten years later, there was another knock. This time it was Grace’s son who dropped by to ask a question: “Do you think it would be possible to host a birthday party here at your house for my mother - Grace Parent Miller?” The Carlaw’s pondered the rather unusual request for a moment and said, “Sure, we’d love to!”

The party was a success, and the Carlaws were given a book as a token of appreciation; it was a history of the home titled “The Grand Old House Where Grandma Grew Up: 1929 - 1972 by Grandma (Grandma being Grace Parent Miller).” The book opens with a first-person recollection of moving day by a three-year-old “Gracie” and continues with an intimate chronicle of life in San Luis Obispo during the Great Depression; Grace’s father’s colorful career with

the Narcotics Bureau; family camping in Reservoir Canyon; yellow quarantine signs tacked to the front door; and the effects of World War II, locally. The book, which provides a fascinating look at life for the San Luis Obispo family begins…

The Parent Family moved into this Victorian house in 1929. Moving day was exciting. While the older children helped carry in our household goods, Dorothy, then one-year-old, and Gracie - this was my third birthday - played in the backyard. I stepped on a bee and my brother carried a screaming Gracie to the outside faucet where he plastered my sting with mud, then he took me to the house for lunch, which consisted of cabbage soup, corn on the cob and sliced tomatoes.

Many fond childhood memories are shared by Grace, including dressmaking with her sisters and mother, playing baseball and kick-the-can with the neighbors, listening to her brother play the violin, and making her mother’s favorite dessert, Bavarian Cream. But, life took a dramatic turn for the Parent Family when the Great Depression came to Islay Street…

MODERN UPGRADE

If houses could talk, this one would tell a wonderful story. Also, this house, itself, was wonderful to all of us. There, our lives were full of children, the ones who belonged to us and the ones who came to visit. The house was also full of drama, music, love, the smell of baking bread and pies, all the normal joys, and also the difficulties life brings to each of us. Our early years were carefree because we had loving parents who were doing well. As the Great Depression had its impact on the nation, our family began to deeply feel its turmoil. Eventually it impacted everything we did, our livelihood, our activities, our emotions and ultimately our adult values.

The book describes the Great Depression hitting the Parent Family hard. And, when the the federal government began cutting back, Grace’s father lost his job with the Narcotics Bureau, and the family had to scramble to keep themselves afloat. When the Veteran’s Bonus they had been hoping for failed to materialize - Grace’s father was a veteran of World War I, and carried German shrapnel in his neck as a souvenir from the conflict - the Islay Street home was very nearly lost to back-taxes. To make ends meet, nearly every expense was cut, including the gas used to cook their meals and heat their house. Life for the family consisted of a daily hunt for food - they were living, quite literally, hand-to-mouth.

Because the Depression was becoming deeper instead of fading away, our parents took many measures to keep their heads above water. It was called survival. All members of our family worked together to maintain hearth and home… Bent nails were methodically pounded straight and sorted into old coffee cans for future use. Sticks from wooden boxes were saved for kindling as were any branches trimmed from our numerous trees and bushes, which were crammed to the roof of the woodshed. We saved anything that could possibly be reused. Mother also saved the wishbones from our Christmas and Thanksgiving turkeys, which she placed on a nail in an

inconspicuous place over the pantry door - not for any superstitious reason, but because they represented memories of happy times.

Life in the home on Islay Street remained difficult and the Depression seemed as if it was going to go on forever until the United States began its war build-up effort in the late thirties and early forties. It was only then that the industrious and resilient Parent Family began to finally feel some relief…

Around 1939, the National Guard Camp San Luis, was being built and filled with soldiers. This was to be a last training camp on the West Coast before soldiers would be sent overseas, should the war come to our land, which it did December 7 of 1941. Our local officials advertised for San Luis families to rent their extra bedrooms, allowing soldiers and their wives to have a few weeks together before being sent overseas. Since Claire, Claudia, and John were now grown and away from home either as university students or working, their bedrooms were rented. Dad and Mother set up a bed for themselves in Dad’s home office and rented their own bedroom, too. As demand for such housing became more desperate, our living and dining rooms were furnished with beds and rented as well. For the first time in years, with joy, Mother and Dad had enough income from rent so that Mom could quit working outside the home.

Today, the Carlaws can identify exactly where different parts of the story take place in the home. And a few remaining artifacts provide daily reminders of its rich history, including an old clawfoot bathtub, an assortment of original railroad spikes, and a cellar made from rock taken from Bishop Peak which stored “homemade root beer, salt pork,

by the numbers

laguna lake

Total Homes Sold Average Asking Price Average Selling Price Sales Price as a % of Asking Price Average # of Days on the Market

YTD 2011 18 481,183 471,210 97.93 139

tank farm

Total Homes Sold Average Asking Price Average Selling Price Sales Price as a % of Asking Price Average # of Days on the Market

cal poly area

Total Homes Sold Average Asking Price Average Selling Price Sales Price as a % of Asking Price Average # of Days on the Market

downtown

Total Homes Sold Average Asking Price Average Selling Price Sales Price as a % of Asking Price Average # of Days on the Market

YTD 2011 12 608,433 594,583 97.72 97

YTD 2012 17 501,965 483,118 96.25 94

+/-5.88% 4.32% 2.53% -1.68% -32.37%

YTD 2012 10 537,790 528,850 98.34 50

+/-16.67% -11.61% -11.05% 0.62% -48.45%

YTD 2011 6 514,983 491,583 95.46 68

YTD 2012 9 574,611 545,278 94.90 54

+/50.00% 11.58% 10.92% -0.56% -20.58%

YTD 2011 12 815,317 714,000 87.57 153

YTD 2012 7 616,271 609,500 98.90 86

+/-41.67% -24.41% -14.63% 11.33% -43.79%

Total Homes Sold Average Asking Price Average Selling Price Sales Price as a % of Asking Price Average # of Days on the Market

YTD 2011 11 1,048,891 976,409 93.09 148

YTD 2012 3 711,667 683,333 96.02 175

+/-72.72% -32.15% -30.02% 2.93% 18.24%

Total Homes Sold Average Asking Price Average Selling Price Sales Price as a % of Asking Price Average # of Days on the Market

YTD 2011 13 561,067 540,808 96.39 73

YTD 2012 19 532,829 515,146 98.34 35

+/46.15% -6.64% -4.75% 1.95% -52.05%

johnson

Total Homes Sold Average Asking Price Average Selling Price Sales Price as a % of Asking Price Average # of Days on the Market

YTD 2012 14 499,857 490,279 98.08 64 ave *Comparing 1/1/11 - 5/24/11 to 1/1/12 - 5/24/12

+/27.27% -6.67% -1.43% 5.22% -56.76%

SOURCE: San Luis Obispo Association of REALTORS®

Amazing Panoramic Views from this 10-acre private and gated Templeton home with 7 acres of Syrah and Petite Syrah Vineyards. Outdoor living with Pool, Outdoor Kitchen, Bar and BBQ Pit. The main house is in the midst of a remodel and is being sold as-is. Two secondary dwellings are almost completed along with a huge shop with three roll up doors. This is a fantastic price at $799,000.

BY JEANETTE TROMPETER, KSBY NEWS

If you have lived around the Central Coast any length of time, you likely remember the Unocal contamination at Avila Beach and the years of cleanup and redevelopment that followed. And it wasn’t fun for business owners down there, but you can reap the benefits of one of the outcomes of that mess.

The next time you have a Friday evening free, you should try the Avila Beach Fish and Farmers Market. Because in the nine years it has existed, it’s grown into good proof, There’s No Place Like Home. It’s Happy Hour, family-style. From four to eight each Friday evening come summertime, it offers up something for just about everyone.

You will find fresh farmer fare of all sorts here. And the shopping experience is part of the pleasure. Fifty vendors set up shop and are ready and willing to offer up answers to any questions you may have and provide samples that will likely keep you from wandering away.

It’s much more than fruits and veggies. You can pick up flowers, enjoy dinner, and soak up the sunshine and sweet, salty air.

The backdrop of the market makes it pretty special. The view of the Pacific is spectacular. “Obviously the ocean, the scenery, the entertainment and the music. It’s so nice to come each week and see the entertainment they have,” says one of the people checking it out.You’ll find someone different providing the music backdrop each week.

Whatever your definition of winding down is, you’ll likely find it here... right in our own backyard. And it offers more proof, There’s No Place Like Home.

SLO Autobody and Collision Repair • 30+ Years in SLO County as your #1 Repair Shop • • Vehicle Appraisal for Insurance • • Free Estimates •

Beach Fish &

Market

Choose Your Adventure

Cliff Jumping Big Falls

WRITTEN BY PADEN FOLLOWWILL PHOTOS BY MEGAN ELDREDGE

Growing up on Indiana Jones movies, in a family of five kids, outdoor hunting for buried treasure was simply a part of kid-dom. All you needed were the map coordinates, a compass, a promise of splendor, no concept for how to get there and a clueless sidekick. We had a flair for the dramatic and also made sure to include a hat and a bull whip for full effect.

If you are a San Luis Obispo local or a visitor to our glorious region, consider this your chance to step into a modern adventure, and spend a Saturday trying to locate the elusive duo of waterfalls, Big Falls and Little Falls, before they mystically evaporate in the summer heat.

Rumored to be an 80 foot waterfall in the surge of April showers, Big Falls is nestled into the Santa Lucia Wilderness, just above Lake Lopez. Pouring over the intricate geologic tracing of limestone, both Big and Little Falls create a number of cool, deep pools.

Getting there...

Driving directions:

The real adventure is not just finding them, but in accepting the whispered local challenge of jumping off the higher waterfall into the small, but deep pool 80 feet below. Only the most observant of adventurers can read the depth of a pool, so proceed with caution.

Now if cliff jumping isn’t enough to spark a local adventurer’s mind, then the falls certainly reward the hiker with refreshing swimming pools. Rest assured that visual treasures abound.

Reaching the falls is quite the endeavor, as the only directions you can find read like tall tales of bygone days. The road up Lopez Canyon crosses a creek more than a dozen times before dead-ending at the Big Falls trailhead, where adventurers must continue on foot. So having attempted the trip, turning back once as a result of bringing the CR-V instead of the Tacoma, and finally getting there, let me expound on the kind of details (see below) one would only gain access to after uncovering clues and details and piecing them together.

Head toward Lake Lopez on Highway 227, eventually heading east. Follow the signs to Lake Lopez. Once the lake is in sight, watch for the first road on the right. Turn right on High Mountain Road. At about 0.8 miles, turn left onto Upper Lopez Canyon Road. This is the key: follow this road past six concrete fords and past a Boy Scouts Camp, up and over a ridge. The views are beautiful before you descend the junction of Waters End Road and Upper Lopez Canyon Road. At this point if you have a low clearance vehicle, park your car in one of the spaces near this junction. If you choose to continue on the Upper Lopez Canyon Road (located on your right), you will begin crossing the Lopez Creek and could incur damage to your car and lose heart altogether. From here you drive/walk about 1.5 miles through eight Lopez Creek crossings to get to the trailhead.

Hiking directions:

Once at the small parking lot, the Lopez Canyon Trail keeps winding ahead, but watch for a trailhead that is not marked. It’s on the west side of the road. Follow this trail along the creek, cross it, and on the opposite side head up and into the Big Falls Canyon. Enjoy the shade, but beware of poison oak. Within about a half-of-a-mile, you will find yourself staring up at the lower waterfall, about 40 feet high with a pool at its base. From here you can stay on the path and continue onward and up to the upper falls (about an 80 foot waterfall, where risk takers cliff jump).

SLO LIFE

Helping Person Bipolar Disorder

BY TOM FRANCISKOVICH

We receive a lot of email here at SLO LIFE Magazine, but it was one that I received on an unusually warm and still morning last fall that caught my attention. It got right to the point: Hey Tom, I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder this summer, something I have struggled with most of my adult life. The author of the email was someone I knew, someone who many of you know. But, I did not understand why he was contacting me. The email continued: I feel a great sense of relief with the diagnosis as it explains a lot of things for me and my family. And I was thinking that, since awareness is such a big part of this disorder, would you be interested in sharing my story in the magazine? I figure that if I can help just one person with this, then it will have been worth it.

I didn’t know much about Bipolar Disorder, aside from the few times it has made the news within the context of a sensational crime story, including recently right here on the Central Coast. But, I did do some cursory research before our first interview. I wanted to have some background, but not so much that I became biased - I wanted to hear from him what it was all about.

After the usual niceties, I started the interview. “What exactly is Bipolar?” I asked, curious to see how he would explain it. Matthew raised his hands in front of him and held them flat, horizontally about a foot apart and said, “If the usual range of emotions is between my hands here, my experience will swing from higher than my top hand, which is ‘my high’ to lower than my bottom hand, which is ‘my low.’ I pass through this normal range to an extreme, but I don’t live within these bounds as you do.”

Yet, it was living “outside the bounds” that has caused Matthew to soar to great heights while also occasionally crashing back down to earth in spectacular fashion. In his case, it was much more of the former and a lot less of the latter. “Even during my low periods, I am still able to function at a reasonable level in business and, except for those who know me very well, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell if I was experiencing a low. You may just think, ‘Oh, he’s just having a bad day’ or ‘He’s a bit aloof’ or something like that.”

That all changed last summer when Matthew was hit with a massive wave of depression that followed an “intensely reckless high period,” which dropped him far below anything that he had ever experienced before. His restless mind and occasional “moodiness” were things he had always been able to control, but this time it was different. He wanted his life to end and began contemplating how to do it.

The more I learned about Bipolar Disorder, the more I realized how little is actually understood about the disorder and its treatment [see page 32 for additional information]. There are the usual explanations of brain chemistry and the imbalance of certain hormones, but precious little is known about what causes it and how to treat it. In Matthew’s

case, as with most all Bipolar sufferers, a combination of counseling and medication are used in combination to manage what is usually described as a lifelong diagnosis.

And it is the very nature of Bipolar that makes it so difficult to treat, as when the sufferer experiences a “high” it does not feel like something that needs to be fixed - quite the contrary, it feels good, really good. In Matthew’s case, he actually credits the disorder for the amazing list of accomplishments he has experienced through his lifetime. “When I am on a high, I feel like there is nothing that can stop me, and my energy and endurance are through the roof,” reveals Matthew, a gifted athlete who was recruited internationally out of high school. “It’s like no other feeling, and I really cannot describe it, there are no words for it.”

Continuing to ride his high into elite college athletics, it was not long before the rug was pulled out from beneath him. After competing at the top level and consistently living up to his “freshman phenom” label that fans and coaches had bestowed upon him, Matthew became injured, and the machinations of his mind conspired to send him down a familiar path. “There was absolutely nothing that could cheer me up. And, I don’t think it helped not having any close friends or family around. It was a downward spiral like I had never experienced before to that point,” he recalls.

So, after his sensational start in elite NCAA athletics, Matthew abruptly called it quits. And this pattern of oversized success, followed by an unexplainable depression, would continue throughout his life. He began to recognize this cycle in himself and, to a degree, was able to channel and control it. A “high” represented an opportunity and was something to be maximized, a “low” was something to be concealed. It was not long until Matthew had taught himself another sport, which propelled him to national prominence and a whole new level of success. When all of the records were broken and that sport was conquered another one soon followed, which he excelled at as well. Then he got his first taste of business, and he became “all-in,” promptly stopping his athletic pursuits.

“I become obsessive about things and when I am on a high I can think of nothing else. For example, I have become interested in sailing lately, and in one sailboat in particular, and there is this one eight-minute YouTube video I will watch over and over again. I will literally stay up all night long watching this thing. I don’t get tired, and I will notice a new detail each time I watch it. I don’t know how to explain it,” observes Matthew, who seems equal parts amused and bewildered as he relays the story.

A career in business that began in earnest in his mid-twenties led to overseas travels and a string of successful international ventures. And, as it turns out, Bipolar Disorder is disproportionately represented in entrepreneurship, which makes sense considering that the qualities of a person experiencing a Bipolar high are similar to those that may be beneficial when launching a new enterprise: a high level of energy, an underestimation of risk, a feeling of infallibility, and an obsessive drive toward completion of a task [see complete chart on page 32].

And life would continue this way for Matthew: one success after another followed each time by a visit with his private demons, which was generally noted only by him and his wife, and increasingly by his young children. This would continue in a familiar, mostly controllable cycle until last summer.

“I’ve been through some dark times, but nothing like that,” Matthew shares. “But, there was something that triggered in me at my lowest point; it was almost like divine intervention or something, and it took every ounce of my strength and will power to pick up the phone, but I did.” In the middle of the night, when everything appeared lost there remained just one last unspeakable option, Matthew remembered a business associate whose wife was a psychologist. He struggled to scroll through his cell phone contacts, and, barely able to focus on the names and numbers streaming past, he clicked “call.”

“I remember the phone ringing and ringing and then a half-asleep voice on the other end of the line picking up. I don’t know what I said, but the next thing I knew she [the psychologist] was at my front door. We talked through the night and in the morning she took me to see a psychiatrist who gave me some medication, and I was put on suicide watch. Every hour of the day for three days I had to call [the psychologist] to check in. After a day of doing that I started to feel a little ridiculous and sort of embarrassed, really, but it made me realize how serious this had all become. And I was determined to make a change.”

No sooner than the fog began to lift, Matthew threw himself into stabilizing his mental health with the same fervor he had exhibited in sport and business. Daily counseling sessions followed and answers were sought. One visit to a bookstore led him to a book called “The Hyperactive Mind” which he embraced with a missionary’s zeal. “When I read the opening paragraph, I pretty much said, ‘Wow, that describes me exactly,’ and I felt a massive weight come off my shoulders with the thought that ‘I’m not the only one dealing with this.’ ”

As Matthew and I continued to meet and correspond by email, I became more and more gripped by his story. Not only did I see him as an incredibly compelling subject for a story in this magazine, I increasingly saw him as a good friend. And, at some point along the way, my enthusiasm for publishing an amazing personal story became trumped by my desire to protect a friend, which got me thinking, “What is it he needs to be protected from?” As you have probably figured out by now “Matthew” is not his real name. And, it probably says a whole lot more about me and society in general than it does about “Matthew” that I have not revealed the true source of the article (although everything else is factually correct). We discussed at length the ramifications for doing so, including conversations with his family, business associates, psychologist, and psychiatrist. Sadly, it is true that there really is still a stigma attached to mental illness, which is undoubtedly responsible for keeping more people suffering from various afflictions from seeking help. While I may be contributing to this dynamic by advising “Matthew” to conceal his identity for now, this apparent hypocrisy was not lost on him. During our conversations, I often thought back to his first email which signed off with the words: if I can just help just one person with this, then it will have been worth it.

I still believe that we can accomplish that mission - to help those out there who may be unnecessarily suffering. And, maybe we have taken just one small step in the right direction with this story and opened the door for some meaningful dialogue. Although “Matthew” has spent most of his adult life “suffering in silence,” there is help right here on the Central Coast. And, if you happen to be one of those readers that relates to this story and perhaps sees those same traits in yourself or someone you know, I would strongly encourage you to also read the article on page 32 and follow-up with some of the resources listed there. And, for the rest of us, including myself, let’s continue to embrace the good life that we live here while remembering that there are those among us who are suffering, but can, in part from our help, find a new way forward.

As for Matthew, he acknowledges that minding his mental health will be a lifelong challenge requiring counseling, which he now does once a week, along with consistent use of medication. The most difficult thing for him will be to continue to take medication when he feels a high coming on. But, it will be that commitment, which he has made to his wife and his children, that will allow him to keep a steady course, free from the darkness of depression, but also absent the ecstasy of nearly unlimited energy and indescribably good feelings. It will be difficult. One day Matthew hopes to lend his face and name to the constant battle against the lack of awareness and misinformation that continually plagues mental illness in general and Bipolar Disorder in particular. In the meantime, he continues to strive for optimum mental health, one day at a time. SLO LIFE

Transitions-Mental Health Association is a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating stigma and promoting recovery and wellness for people with mental illness through work, housing, community and family support services.

Inspiring hope, growth, recovery and wellness in our communities. www.t-mha.org

For suicide prevention, mental health and emotional support, SLO Hotline is confidential, free and available around the clock.

Understanding Bipolar Disorder

BY ERIN P. MACINTYRE, PsyD

Bipolar disorder (sometimes called manic depressive disorder) is a form of mental illness that can cause severe shifts in energy, mood, thinking, and behavior. These shifts range from the highs of mania to the lows of depression. The mood swings are more than just a passing bad or good mood. They can last for days, weeks, or months and affect one’s ability to function.

Bipolar disorder affects both women and men equally, as well as all races, ethnic groups, and socioeconomic classes. Typically, it starts between the ages of 15 and 25. Some people experience their first symptoms during childhood, while others may develop their symptoms later in life. The causes of bipolar disorder are not completely understood, but include a combination of genetic, psychological and environmental factors.

Triggers for episodes of mania or depression vary from person to person. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has compiled a list of common physical, emotional and life change triggers:

Not getting enough sleep (circadian rhythm disturbances)

Using alcohol or drugs

Stopping your medicine

Neurotransmitter imbalances

High levels of the stress hormone cortisol

Beginning antidepressant medication (this can cause a switch to mania)

Stressful life events

Arguing with a friend or loved one Financial problems

The pattern and severity of highs and lows also varies for each person, making bipolar disorder a complicated disease to diagnose. For some people, mania symptoms cause the most distress; for other people, depression is the main concern.

Signs and symptoms of mania can include:

Euphoria • Inflated self-esteem • Poor judgment • Rapid speech Racing thoughts • Aggressive behavior • Agitation or irritation Increased physical activity • Careless or dangerous use of drugs or alcohol Risky behavior • Increased sex drive • Frequent absences from work or school Spending sprees or unwise financial choices • Decreased need for sleep Increased drive to perform or achieve goals • Easily distracted Delusions or a break from reality (psychosis) • Poor performance at work or school

Signs and symptoms of depression can include:

Sadness • Hopelessness • Suicidal thoughts or behavior • Anxiety • Guilt Sleep problems • Low appetite or increased appetite • Fatigue • Irritability

Loss of interest in activities once considered enjoyable • Problems concentrating Chronic pain without a known cause • Frequent absences from work or school Poor performance at work or school

If you recognize any of the above symptoms of bipolar disorder in yourself or someone else, do not wait to get help. Call your primary care physician or obtain an evaluation from a mental health professional. Ignoring the problem won’t make it go away. In fact, it will likely get worse. If you are reluctant to seek treatment because you like the way you feel when you are in a manic state, remember that the energy and euphoria associated with the mania come with a price. Mania can become destructive and hurt not only you, but also the people around you.

Bipolar disorder requires lifelong treatment, even during periods of feeling better. The best treatment for bipolar disorder is a combination of counseling and medication, which may include a treatment team of psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health counselors/social workers and/or psychiatric nurses.

Suicidal thoughts and behavior are common among people with bipolar disorder.

If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, there are a number of things you can do to get help right away:

Contact a family member or friend. Seek help from your doctor, a mental health professional or other health care provider, minister, spiritual leader or someone in your faith community.

Call a suicide hotline number. Here in San Luis Obispo County, we have a 24-hour resource through Transitions Mental Health Association. Their number is (800) 5494499. You can also reach the toll-free, 24-hour hotline of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-8255 to talk to a trained counselor.

Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.

Dr. MacIntyre is a local Clinical Psychologist in private practice. She can be reached at 805.441.3130 or drerinmacintyre@hotmail.com

Melody Klemin

photo by Cameron Ingalls

MUSIC VIDEO

go to slolifemagazine.com and click on See our Commercials to watch “Living the SLO Life” which was written and performed

Growing up in Long Beach, Melody Klemin remembers taking piano lessons like so many other kids do, but it was not until her grandmother gave her a guitar, which had belonged to Klemin’s grandfather, that she became hooked on music.

And, as it turns out, that guitar would carry her through good times and bad. It was during her time at Cal Poly as a student that she became serious about her music while also recognizing its power to unite people and create community. It did not take long for her dorm room to fill up with friends and neighbors wanting to sing along and hear what else she had written. According to Klemin, “The guitar is such a social instrument, and I love how it can bring people together – it can also be very healing.”

After graduating, Klemin spent much of her time teaching music to children in local public schools. Now, along with her partner, Savannah, the San Luis Obispo-based couple have two children of their own at Pacheco Elementary. With a busy family life, she states that “music is the way I centermusic is what fuels me emotionally.”

Klemin, who describes her music as being somewhat similar to “contemporary folk, acoustic love harmonies, with interesting melodies” she laughs at the obvious play on words. “My parents both loved music, so they thought ‘Melody’ was the right name for me.” When asked for a sampling, she pauses for a moment, looks off into the distance with her piercing blue eyes, and in a style reminiscent of Bonnie Raitt or Sheryl Crow softly sings a verse from a song she wrote called “Cannoli.” I never guessed that you’d be mine / cannoli to go and a bottle of wine / you gave me a second chance given the circumstance. She shares that Cannoli is a love song, but admits that it is also one of her favorite desserts, and “a great symbol for how sweet love is.”

Today, Klemin works at the Performing Arts Center as a marketing and outreach coordinator for children’s programs, and she performs as often as she can, usually at weddings and artistic events. Her soft, folksy, acoustic style lends itself well to elevating the mood of a gathering without dominating it. She is working on completing a new album, which she expects to finish by the end of the year and looks forward to a time when she is “doing music all day long.”

It would not be hard to imagine Klemin doing music all day long professionally. As with so many talented artists, she seems to be just a lucky break away. Her unique sound combined with a disarming sincerity combine for an experience that runs counter to the loud and in-your-face contemporary pop culture that is pervasive in today’s Top 40. But, it’s not stardom that Klemin is aiming for; her objectives seem much more grounded, so it comes as no surprise when she says, “I feel free when I’m playing music - it’s such a blessing to be able to play and perform.”

by Melody Klemin

Robert Maja

WILLISON

In 2007, Robert Maja, an award-winning local muralist, was commissioned to restore the 1940’s era Eskimo Pie billboard found beneath some old wooden siding at the High Street Market & Deli by the building’s owners, Alex and Anne Gough. At that time there were only two such signs known to be in existence.

Maja was born and raised in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, where he served as the official muralist of the Dominican presidency. There he was tasked with travelling the country to create inspiring and captivating murals in public buildings.

Reputation of his work spread overseas, and he became renowned in Europe where many of his murals can be seen, particularly in Spain, Italy, and Holland.

After settling for a period in Spain, it was love that brought him to the Central Coast in 2006. Love led to marriage and today his wife, Tyler, enthusiastically describes Maja’s approach to art as primarily a focus on colors and emotion, “His inspiration comes from his travels and his Carribean upbrining, but he is not locked into any one particular style.”

Recently he was hired by the owner and operator of the High Street Market & Deli, Randy “Doobie” Coates, Jr., to bring life to the benches outside of the building as well as an adjacent wooden fence. Maja was given creative license to do whatever he pleased, but was asked to include a bit of a “40’s and 50’s vibe” to go along with the style and décor found inside. The result is a vibrant, colorful display that, acccording to Maja, “goes along with the SLO Life and the SLO culture.”

PHOTOS BY STEVE

The Summer Games

BY DEMITRIA CASTANON

Olympic hopefuls associated with the Central Coast. Be sure to set your DVRs!

Warren Anderson

Born in San Luis Obispo

College: Loyola Marymount University Event: Men’s Rowing

July 28 • 3:30am • Quadruple Sculls

July 30 • 2:00am • Quadruple Sculls August 01• 2:40am • Quadruple Sculls August 03 • 2:00am • Quadruple Sculls

Sharon Day

Born in Brooklyn, New York College: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Event: Women’s Heptathalon

August 03 • 2:05am - 12:35pm • Heptathlon

Stephanie Brown Trafton

Born in San Luis Obispo College: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Event: Women’s Discus Throw

The countdown to the Olympics is on! Friday, July 27, 2012 will be anything but ordinary; it is the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

One must-see U.S. Olympian is San Luis Obispo resident, Sharon Day, who will compete in the Women’s Heptathalon. After graduating high school in Costa Mesa, Day accepted a collegiate track and field scholarship to compete in the high jump for Cal Poly. During her five years as a Mustang, she not only competed every spring on the track but also every winter for the Cal Poly Women’s Soccer Team. Day began training for the heptathlon during her junior year with coach Jack Holt. “I like having the variety,” Day expressed. The two day heptathlon competition consists of seven events: 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200-meter, long jump, javelin throw, and 800-meter. With only one week of training in her new event, the junior placed second at the Big West Conference Championships, and, as a senior, she claimed the title of Conference Champion. In addition to her heptathlon success, she also qualified for the 2008 Olympic Track and Field Trials in the high jump. Following her graduation in the spring of 2008 where she received a kinesiology degree, Day signed a professional contract with Asics and began to compete professionally. Day secured a spot on the USA Olympic Team on the evening of July 4th 2008, at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, when she placed third in the high jump at the Olympic Trials. In Beijing, Day placed twelfth during a period of difficult, stormy weather. Between

Opening Ceremonies and her first day of competition, Day focused on her training and squeezed in time to watch others compete in beach volleyball, women’s basketball, tennis, and, her other favorite, co-ed badminton. She was amazed by the fans and confided with a bewildered look that she had “never seen so many people so excited about badminton.”

The Olympics are produced by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), and they set the standards that athletes must meet to compete in the prestigious event held every four years. Day met the Olympic “A” qualifying standard for the 2012 U.S. Team on April 3rd at the Sam Adams Multi-Events Meet held at Westmont College. When asked how she felt going into this year’s Olympic Trials, Day answered with, “A little bit of nerves, but not too much, mostly excitement to make my second [Olympic] team.”

Day says her focus is on staying healthy and smart training. She trains six days a week, which consists of running workouts, field practice, weight lifting, and recovery including physical therapy, chiropractic care and massage. Her well-balanced diet is focused on high-protein foods and carbohydrates. She stays away from processed foods, sweets and sodas.

With her wedding day on the horizon, Day realizes that leading a life as dedicated as hers calls for a partner who recognizes and appreciates what she does, and, with an Olympic-sized smile, describes her fiancé as “supportive and understanding.”

August 03 • 11:10am • Discus Throw August 04 • 11:30am • Discus Throw

Jordan Hasay

Born in Fontana

High School: Mission College Preparatory College: University of Oregon Event: Women’s 5,000-meter August 07 • 2:55am • 5,000-meter August 10 • 12:05pm • 5,000-meter

Corbin Duer College: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Event: Men’s Decathlon

August 8 • 2:10am - 1:30pm • Decathlon August 9 • 1:00am - 1:20pm • Decathlon

Chris Randolph

Born in Lompoc College: Seattle Pacific University Event: Men’s Decathlon

August 8 • 2:10am - 1:30pm • Decathlon

August 9 • 1:00am - 1:20pm • Decathlon

Maggie Vessey

Born in Santa Cruz

College: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Event: Women’s 800-meter

August 8 • 3:35am • 800-meter

August 9 • 11:30am • 800-meter

August 11 • 12:00pm • 800-meter

Chaunte Lowe

Born in Templeton College: Georgia Tech Event: Women’s High Jump, Long Jump August 9 • 1:30am • High Jump

August 11 • 11:00am • High Jump

Sharon Day competing at the Olympic Stadium in Germany.

Bibimbap

SHARED BY JAIME DWIGHT

BIBIMBAP

by Jaime Dwight

1 1/2 cups long grain white rice

5 oz baby spinach (5 cups)

2 1/4 tsp vegetable oil

3 carrots, julienned

1 garlic glove, thinly sliced

4 scallions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced

3/4 pound of shiitake mushrooms, trimmed, thinly sliced

1 english cucumber, julienned

2 tbls soy sauce

4 large eggs (1 egg per person)

4 tsp toasted sesame oil

Sriracha sauce, for serving

1. In a medium pot, cook rice according to package instructions.

2. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet or wok, bring 2 cups water to a boil over high. Add spinach and cook, stirring constantly until wilted, about 30 seconds. Drain. When cool enough to handle, squeeze spinach dry with a paper towel.

3. Wipe out skillet and heat 1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil over mediumhigh. Add carrots and cook until crisptender, 3 minutes. Add garlic and scallion whites and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add mushrooms and cook 4 minutes. Add cucumber and cook until softened, 3 minutes. Add spinach and soy sauce and stir to combine. Transfer vegetables to a bowl and wipe out skillet.

4. Heat 3/4 teaspoon vegetable oil in skillet over medium-high. Add eggs, reduce heat to medium and cook until whites are set and yolks are still runny, about 5 minutes.

5. Divide rice among four bowls and top with vegetable mix. Top with fried egg. Drizzle each with sesame oil and sprinkle with scallion greens. Serve with Sriracha.

share, as she does here.

Have a recipe to share? Go to slolifemagazine.com to tell us about it.

Jaime Dwight lives in Arroyo Grande with her husband of two years. After a long day at Promega Biosciences in San Luis Obispo, she loves to unwind by turning her kitchen into a lab of her own. And, when she stumbles onto something great, the amateur blogger and self-described “foodie” loves to

The House of Blue Leaves May 25 - June 17

San Luis Obispo Little Theatre slolittletheatre.org

Winner of the Tony, Obie, and Drama Desk Award for best American play! e Pope’s 1965 visit to New York City brings the hope of answered prayers and a few unexpected guests to an apartment in Sunnyside, Queens, where Artie Shaughnessy, a zookeeper, pines for a new life as a popular songwriter.

Wine, Waves and Beyond May 31 - June 3

San Luis Obispo County winewavesandbeyond.com

When it comes to having fun, the Central Coast knows how to do it right. This classic surf and wine event celebrates the best of San Luis Obispo County. Combining the fun, laid back atmosphere of our wine country and unique surf culture, enjoy four days of unforgettable events evoking the magic of wine and waves. These events take place at numerous scenic venues throughout San Luis Obispo County. All proceeds go to support the Association of Amputee Surfers (AmpSurf).

Art After Dark

June 1 and July 6

Downtown San Luis Obispo artsobispo.org

Every first Friday of the month, hundreds of visitors converge on downtown SLO to see new art exhibits and add to their growing collections. With dozens of galleries and nontraditional exhibit spaces, it’s SLO’s favorite night of the month to celebrate art for free!

Lunch Buffet

Mon - Sat 11:30am - 3:00pm $8.99

Monday Dinner Buffet 5:00pm - 10:00pm $9.99

Sunday Brunch $9.99

2115 Broad Street, SlO 805.781.0766 | shalimarslo.com

Blue’s Baseball June 1 - July 29 Sinsheimer Stadium bluesbaseball.com

Since 1946, Blue’s Baseball has been a tradition of San Luis Obispo. This family-friendly setting offers plenty of games and activities for the kids, a concession stand and beer truck. Come out and enjoy the game! Fireworks will begin immediately following the games on June 1, July 3, and July 28.

Festival Mozaic July 11 - 22 San Luis Obispo County festivalmozaic.com

The 42nd season of Festival Mozaic features spectacular music in spectacular settings throughout San Luis Obispo county. This elite festival presents diverse programs with more than 60 dynamic international artists in chamber music and orchestral concerts, and unique musical experiences that combine classical training with jazz and world music. The festival’s programs are designed and led by dynamic music director, Scott Yoo, a New York-based virtuoso violinist and conductor.

California Mid-State Fair

July 18 - 29

Paso Robles Fair Grounds midstatefair.com

It’s that time of year again… classic rock band Journey, country star Brad Paisley, and pop group Big Time Rush are among the acts coming to the California Mid-State Fair. As we celebrate “The Great American Road Trip”, the exhibit department will be traveling through the historic Route 66: from discovering Texas in the Floriculture Department to traveling through New Mexico and the land of Native Americans in the Agriculture area.