From Kansas City to The Bay 

Now in the San Francisco Bay Area

I've been on a long hiatus from Squidoo,
but I am coming back.
Recently I made a big move from the Middle to the Left...
from the Middle-West to the West Coast, that is!
"Getting getting back into the groove" here at Squidooland will take some time. Your continued patience at the many Groups and Lenses I manage/ co-manage and other points of participation is appreciated as I settle into a new home, a new life, a new rhythm and new possibilities.

It was a 1,700 mile journey from Kansas City to the San Francisco Bay. Headwinds, dust storms, tumbleweeds and snow all made for a very interesting journey! The best part of the journey was time spent with a dear old friend that came along for the ride and meeting more dear friends, old and new at the destination! So many wonderful moments, lovely people and beautiful scenery in between. The hardest part was leaving old friends and family behind. (Don't worry, I'll come back to visit!)

I'm still settling in here and wondering when it is going to snow, but then I look outside and see a palm tree and flowers still blooming and realize "Oh, yeah, it doesn't snow here!"

Oddly summers here can actually be mighty chilly in The Bay, especially over on the peninsula with all that bone-chilling moisture coming off the water. Mark Twain was quoted as saying (paraphrasing here) "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco"! I was here in August once and about froze to death, though the thermometer said it was about 45 degrees Fahrenheit! (It didn't help matters that we'd just spent a week driving in triple-digit heat in the southwest.)

Now if I want snow, it's just a half-day to the mountains, "Hello, snow! See ya later, snow!" How great is that? No more scraping ice or digging out from snow! No more being stuck indoors for long stretches because it is too hot/muggy/cold for weeks on end! SOMETHING is always blooming, year round and the most amazing and exotic fresh produce is available - even at your average commercial grocery chain.

This will be quite an adjustment to a new rhythm of more subtle seasons.

**********************************************************

Here I am, now serving the San Francisco Bay Area
and still serving Kansas City (and about anywhere) via telephone.

Offering Astrology and Aura-Soma® Consultations
(Scroll down to related modules for more information)

If you wish to see me in person, that will now require a trip to the lovely San Francisco Bay Area, as I am now based in the East Bay in the Berkeley area!

Of course, you could wait until my next trip back to KC or to your neighborhood for workshops or private consultations, but why wait when I'm just a phone call away?
Have a consultation from the comfort and convenience of your own home!
Save time, save gas and (hey, Gemini & Pisces - most likely to get distracted/ lost) save getting lost en route!

Simply CONTACT ME for more information.

On the flip side-
You could also arrange for me to come to your city for the same!

Options?
Yes, we have many options!
Have ephemeris, atlas and passport - will travel!

Holiday & End-of-Year Specials - HURRY - Good thru Dec. 31! 

The New Year is Coming. What's in Store for YOU?

Here's One for All My Wonderful Friends & Family 

Enjoy!

Whither the Weather 

San Francisco Weather - Current Conditions and Forecast

Just for fun, let's do a little weather comparison!

The Greater San Francisco Bay Area is full of micro-climates, tiny pockets of rather different weather. This even seems to play out within the house and yard with definite cold and warm spots that may or may not shift throughout the day.

Starting on the West Side of the Bay on the Peninsula with San Francisco proper.

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East Bay/ Berkeley (On the Sunny Side!) Weather - Current Conditions & Forecast

East Bay gets a bit more sun and generally runs warmer in the daytime. That's the way I like it!

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Kansas City Current Weather Conditions & Forecast

Kansas City has three seasons:
Winter, Summer and then "Intermittent Interim". That's where Spring and Autumn belong. If you're lucky you get 2 solid weeks of each, otherwise it is an intermittent pattern of Winter/Summer weather from day to day for about a 3-month stretch between Summer and Winter!

After the Holidays is the worst. It is this one awful, dismal cold, solid gray overcast very long month called "Janu-Feb". It takes forever, you think you'll never see the sun shine again and finally, one day there it is...and you're in the midst of Tornado season! (OK, I'll admit in all the decades I lived there I NEVER saw one. Saw a few dust devils, some spooky looking cloud formations and had to head for cover more than a few times because the sirens blew but never saw an actual funnel cloud. You want to see bizarre weather? Head for Douglas and Jefferson Counties in Kansas in April-June. They get some REALLY strange stuff out there.)

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Shaking Things Up 

USGS M2.5+ Earthquakes - World Wide

Well, there is no "perfect" place.
Paradise is where you make it, but there are some places that are definitely a better fit for each of us than others. We each have unique constitutions, sets of preferences and needs that will describe what makes a place to live "just right".

I've traded in Tornadoes, Hail, Ice Storms and Extreme Seasons for Mudslides, Wildfires, Oil Spills and Earthquakes.

Funny thing is, I actually missed my first earthquake here. My friend came running in from the other room and said "Did you feel that!?!" She said she was sitting down and suddenly the pictures on the wall started vibrating. I was oblivious- I'd just gone into the kitchen and was doing my own rattling around and didn't even notice!

JUST FOR FUN:
Real-time earthquake shake map of California & Nevada



List of most recent quakes world-wide:
(Updated every 30 minutes!)

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Writer 

Writing all the time:
Published & unpublished, digital & ink.
Wherever they'll allow it!

Oh, I won't get all wordy here, because you'll have plenty of opportunities to see examples as you explore this lens, other lenses and groups by me, plus my website & bolg.

Visit the Squidoo Writers Group I Manage here:
Squid Ink: Art of the Sea Pen Writers Group

Astrologer 

I've been studying Western Astrology for close to 20 years now (since just a young 'un) and progressed into professional practice when I did my first paid consultation about 12 years ago. I write, teach, speak, research, do private consultations and continue to further my education on new findings and techniques.
20 years ago it was the "Standard Planets" plus a handful of asteroids. Now we have a whole bunch of "new stuff" to contend with: Centaurs, KBO's, TNO's, Exoplanets etc. (The Universe really IS expanding!)

Navigation by the Stars Astrology
Astrology a la Carte Astro-Blog

Visit my Astrology Website & Astro-Blog here:
www.artofstars.net

Visit my Squidoo Astrology Group Here:
Astrology: From Asteroids to Zodiac and Beyond

Great Quotes on Astrology 

Interesting, Insightful and Humorous

• "We are born at a given moment, in a given place and, like vintage years of wine, we have the qualities of the year and of the season of which we are born. Astrology does not lay claim to anything more."
  ~Carl G. Jung
  
  
• "I don't believe in astrology; I'm a Sagittarius and we're skeptical."
  ~An Anonymous Sagittarius
  
  
• "At the moment I am looking into astrology, which seems indispensable for a proper understanding of mythology. There are strange and wondrous things in these lands of darkness. Please, don't worry about my wanderings in these infinitudes. I shall return laden with rich booty for our knowledge of the human psyche."
  ~Carl G. Jung
  
  
• "Millionaire don't use Astrology. Billionaires Do."
  ~J.P. Morgan
  
  
• "Hillary [Clinton] and Nancy [Reagan] have a lot in common -- they're both smarter than their husbands and both consulted the stars for guidance, Nancy with astrology and Hillary with Barbra Streisand."
  ~Bill Maher
  
  
• "A physician without a knowledge of Astrology has no right to call himself a physician"
  ~Hippocrates
  
  
• "It is not of Alchemy or Kabalism or Astrology or Ceremonial Magic;
  but, as I have said, it is the presentation of universal types, and it is in the combination of these types - if anywhere - that it presents
  Secret Doctrine."
  ~A.E. Waite
  
  
• Astrology is a language. If you understand this language, the sky speaks to you.
  ~Dane Rudhyar
  
  
• "I know that astrology isn't a science... Of course it isn't. It's just an arbitrary set of rules like chess or tennis.... The rules just kind of got there. They don't make any kind of sense except in terms of themselves. But when you start to exercise those rules, all sorts of processes start to happen and you start to find out all sorts of stuff about people. In astrology the rules happen to be about stars and planets, but they could be about ducks and drakes for all the difference it would make. It's just a way of thinking about a problem which lets the shape of that problem begin to emerge. The more rules, the tinier the rules, the more arbitrary they are, the better. It's like throwing a handful of fine graphite dust on a piece of paper to see where the hidden indentations are. It lets you see the words that were written on the piece of paper above it that's now been taken away and hidden. The graphite's not important. It's just the means of revealing their indentations. So you see, astrology's nothing to do with astronomy. It's just to do with people thinking about people."
  ~Douglas Adams, Mostly Harmless
  
  
• "Astrology is a fact, in most instances. But astrological aspects are but signs, symbols. No influence is of greater value or of greater help than the will of an individual.... Do not attempt to be guided by, but use the astrological influences as the means to meet or to overcome the faults and failures, or to minimize the faults and to magnify the virtues in self."
  ~Edgar Cayce
  
  
• "Look you, Doubloon, your zodiac here is the life of man in one round chapter. To begin: there's Aries, or the Ram - lecherous dog, he begets us; then, Taurus, or the Bull - he bumps us the first thing; then Gemini, or the Twins - that is, Virtue and Vice; we try to reach Virtue, when lo! comes Cancer the Crab, and drags us back; and here, going from Virtue, Leo, a roaring Lion, lies in the path - he gives a few fierce bites and surly dabs with his paw; we escape, and hail Virgo, the virgin! that's our first love; we marry and think to be happy for aye, when pop comes Libra, or the Scales - happiness weighed and found wanting; and while we are very sad about that, Lord! how we suddenly jump, as Scorpio, or the Scorpion, stings us in rear; we are curing the wound, when come the arrows all round; Sagittarius, or the Archer, is amusing himself. As we pluck out the shafts, stand aside! here's the battering-ram, Capricornus, or the Goat; full tilt, he comes rushing, and headlong we are tossed; when Aquarius, or the Waterbearer, pours out his whole deluge and drowns us; and, to wind up, with Pisces, or the Fishes, we sleep."
  ~Herman Melville
  
  

Artist 

Multi-Media Artist

Formal Educaion:
BFA Metalsmithing and Jewelry Design
University of Kansas

(Umpteen hours of Humanities studies above and beyond what I needed for graduation- anything with an "ology": Anthropology, Biology, Geology, Mythology, Psychology...)

There's just something about having a torch in one hand, a flex-shaft in the other, and an oven that can melt glass that just makes a girl feel good.

Not so much a jeweler really, just like to make 2-D & 3-D art objects: some functional, some purely decorative.

Objects and containers, copper enameling, drawing and "wearable art" form jewelry to costume design & construction.
Any form of collage appeals to me- taking different elements and media and merging them together to form something new.

I'll see if I can round up a picture or two of my own work... Meanwhile you get the photo of a squid with egg clutch.

Meanwhile, you can get an idea of my collaging-mind here:

A "virtual scrapbook" of all my Squidoo Lenses and Groups-
My Squid Spawn

Cosmic Cook 

As a kid, I dearly loved watching Julia Child on television. What an artist! She did amazing things in the kitchen, and that little unpredictable element, coupled with her personality made for great entertainment.

My grandma was an excellent cook too. You can read about her and that whole experience here:
Grandma's Magic Pan: Adventures in Cast Iron Cooking

I enjoy cooking, and eating as well. I'm not a professinal by any means, but while exploring a direction in life, I did spend a little time in culinary school. That pretty much cured me of wanting to me a professional chef! The thought of cooking for 60-70 hours a week sounded like a real kill-joy. So now I cook to eat, and to entertain loved ones. It is a bit of a "performance art" for me. I don't claim to be a great cook- decent yes. They all live and come back again, so it must be edible.

What fun it is to stand at the middle of a well-organized kitchen, banging pots & pans, chopping and watching the food fly, to later emerge from a pan some miracle of culinary alchemy.

Visit the Squidoo Cooking & Food Group I manage here:
Cook's Nook

All-Around Space Scamp 

Astronomy

Spaced Out
Well, as you would guess, the whole Astrology thing started with with a passion for the natural sciences, especially Astronomy, plus the Mythology behind the constellations.

The USA space exploration program was in high gear when I came along, as well as a proliferation of television shows and films based on science-fact and ficition. This all stimultated my forming mind, spurring forth a love for "what lies beyond" the reaches of Earth.

I like to make a little trouble too now and then, because I know how much the whole "Astrology thing" bothers so many of those into Astronomy. But to really do Astrology, you must at least have a decent knowledge of basic Astronomy.

Visit my Squidoo Astronomy Group here:
Eyes on the Skies

Aura-Soma® Consultant, Certified Level II 

From England comes a Color-Energy Soul Support System

"You are the colours you choose."
Founder, Vicky Wall

Imagine a blending of Color Therapy and Aroma Therapy for the Soul all in one system...

Aura-Soma: The power of color in your hands.

Read more about it at my Aura-Soma Info Lens

Dancin' Circles Round the Sun 

Epictetus Speaks by Rodney Crowell

Squidoo Honors: LOTD - Lens of the Day 

Selected by Squidoo HQ - 2 Lenses & 1 Group!

Thanks Squid Team!

07/27/2007
In the words of Team Squid: Pimp My Lens!

12/29/2006
Read what Team Squid said: Best Boots

11/22/2006
Here's what Team Squid had to say: Roundabout We Go!

Official Jurist - People's Choice Awards 

People's Choice Awards
Monthly Evaluation of the People, by the People,
For the People!

By Invitation Only Great Lenses
Lensrank and Stars? NO OBJECT!

Hey, Squidooers, keep the great lenses coming!

New contests each month!

~Cast your vote for your favorite lens in each category.
~Check out the juried winners, too!

Be inspired by exceptional lenses by master lensmasters (old and new)!

Favorite Quotes 

Just a Sampling. I'll likely change these tomorrow...

"We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but it is somewhat beauty and poetry."
-Maria Montessori

"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand."
-Albert Einstein

"Orville Wright didn't have a pilot's license."
-unknown

"Life does not consist mainly, or even largely, of facts and happenings. It consists mainly of the storm of thought that is forever flowing through one's head."
-Mark Twain

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed."
-Albert Einstein

"In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans."
-Kahlil Gibran

"The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him."
-Pablo Casals

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children...to leave the world a better place...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

See My LOTD Lenses & Group: 

Quick Links

Pimp My Lens: Great Lensmastering Tips & Tricks Headquarters

PIMP MY LENS: Great Lensmastering Tips & Tricks! The home for lenses & Info & tips on how to maintain or improve any lens on Squidoo! Why have an average lens when you can have a "Splendiferous" Lens? Content, Layout, Design, Re...

Best Boots: These Ain't Yer Granny's Galoshes!

Looking for some serious Outdoor Footwear? How about some Winter Boots to keep your feet warm and cozy with superb traction in icy conditions?   Maybe some Gardening Boots for mucking around in the mud?  Or some Rain Boots to keep your...

Roundabout the World of Traffic Circles

They're maddening, they're mesmerizing and sometimes magnificient... Explore the exciting world of Roundabouts, Traffic Cirlces, Rotaries, Multi-Modal Intersectons and Gyratory Systems! Once a rarity, they're popping up everywhere here in North Am...

Drop me a line! 

Please sign my guestbook.

If you need more space for a longer message, you may reach me via the "Contact Me" link at the upper right.

Thanks for stopping by!

Margaret_Schaut This is one of the 'about me' lenses that I ENJOY reading, and it still doesn't begin to tell the story of how terrific you are! Great pics of the kids, btw! You're fabulous to have around, Julia! Posted August 04, 2007

KCStargazer Wow, someone just asked me to be their personal chef overseas! While I'm quite flattered, and have learned to accomodate a variety of special dietary needs in my cooking, this "Cosmic Cook" is not a professional chef. I just want to know how you squeezed 1500 characters into a 300 char.-limit space? Posted April 20, 2007

readygolfer Thanks for visiting The Cellophane Bridge. It was a real thrill (just like a hole-in-one) to be named Lens of the Day. I appreciate the boost from the Kaleidoscope Group. Posted March 23, 2007

giddygabby Wow. I'm breathless. I've run across a lens or two of yours--and left my mark--and now enjoy membership in a couple of your groups, and I have to say, you are amazing. I voted "Got a good grip" below because nothing at all is cleared up. I totally want more, greedy little being that I am. G Posted March 21, 2007

KimberlyDawnWells Thanks for all your comments on my lenses. I really appreciate all the work you've done and continue to do with your lenses and helping out on the forums! Posted March 15, 2007

 

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The Groups 

Groups I Manage

Kaleidescope: A Random Sampler of Lenses Headquarters

                      A Random Sampler of Splendid Lenses A whimsical ever-changing potpourri of lenses and topics to tickle your curiousity. Ju...

Pimp My Lens: Great Lensmastering Tips & Tricks Headquarters

PIMP MY LENS: Great Lensmastering Tips & Tricks! The home for lenses & Info & tips on how to maintain or improve any lens on Squidoo! Why have an average lens when you can have a "Splendiferous" Lens? Content, Layout, Design, Re...

Specific Topic Groups

Eyes on the Skies Headquarters

Eyes on the Skies Astronomy Group Events, objects and phenomena from NEOS (Near Earth ObjectS) to deep space. We're sticking strictly with the left-brain here: Sciences of Astronomy, Meteorology etc. (Ain't knockin' it but, no woo-woo stuff here.) R...

Astrology - From Asteroids to Zodiac and Beyond Headquarters

Astrology From Asteroids to Zodiac and Beyond All about Astrology. A myriad of types, topics and techniques. Mostly Western, but Vedic (Hindu), Chinese, Mayan and others may appear here as well. Exploring the Stand...

Cook's Nook Headquarters

The Cook's Nook Like to Cook? Like to Eat? Maybe Dish a little? Well, sit yourself down and prepare for a feast of recipies, restaurant reviews, food selection and storage, nutrition, kitchen gadgets, cooking and baking tips galore!...

Scrapbook Americana Headquarters

Scrapbook Americana What makes America Beautiful? All things American: Past, Present, Future. We are a blend of many things here in the United States of America. This is a space to share those many slices of American...

Quantum Universe Headquarters

Quantum Universe:   Where Spirit Meets Matter Where primal wisdom meets modern knowledge we find a realm of Quantum Reality. What happens when the modern science o...

Monsters I've Created - "Concept Groups"

My Squid Spawn Headquarters

My Squid Spawn Here is a collection of most (if not all) of my lenses on all topics and in various stages of development- from zygote to mature cephelopod! The groups I've created are here too. Actually...

Squidzilla Headquarters

What is "SQUIDZILLA"? Now, wouldn't you just like to know? It's...it's... it's Aliiiiiiiiive! ...

More special topics

The Julia Set Headquarters

The Julia Set Anyone & anything named Julia! Lenses about Julias in Art, Film, History, Literature, Music, Places, Politics, Sports and more... Famous Julias, not-so-famous Julias.  Lensmasters named Julia.  Image: Fractal "Julia Set&...

Kansas City Headquarters

Kansas City Group Welcome Kansas City fans! This is YOUR place on Squidoo to gather together in the name of the city of fountains, jazz and bar-b-que. We're looking for the best Kansas City lenses to add to our group, so if you have one, join today....

Squid Ink: Art of the Sea Pen Writer's Group Headquarters

Squid Ink: Art of the Sea Pen Writers Group The place for writers on Squidoo! Pick up a Sea Pen and squeeze out some "Squid Ink"! Please Visit the 2 Polls & Sign our guest book! Interested in joining this Group? Please READ THIS ...

I'd just LOVE to have YOUR opinion! 

Here's your chance to Rate ALL of my Squidoo Groups!

Below is a list of all the groups that I've created and manage, or co-manage.

Group size varies greatly- some are VERY active, while others have yet to be discovered by Squidoo at large. One Group is strictly and exclusively my own stuff (My Squid Spawn), but I do "play well with others" on all the rest.

VOTE:
Use the small arrows to the right of the numbers.

I believe you only get one vote per person per item. You may change a vote (from down to up, etc.) but you will only be alotted one point per item, per person.

Ideas for improvements are welcome (see the "Drop me a line" Guestbook above or "Contact Me" at the upper right for more space.)

If you have a lens that you think is a good fit for a group (or would like to build a new lens for a group)
PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: KCStargazer Squidoo Groups Blog & Info
Then go to the group and click "add an existing lens" or "make a new lens" on the right, respectively.

Simply Amazing 

Vokal Trio Bulgarka

Sounds Wonderful 

The Forest Is Crying

This is the Trio Bulgarka - the group from the video above. Simply superb.

Avg. Customer Rating:

Amazon Price: $13.98 (as of 10/13/2008)

The Outsider

Rodney Crowell - Epictetus Speaks is on this one.

Avg. Customer Rating:

Amazon Price: $18.97 (as of 10/13/2008)

Soma: Experience in Psychoacoustic Healing

Tom Kenyon's powerful Psycoacustics. Excellent meditation tool.

Avg. Customer Rating:

Amazon Price: (as of 10/13/2008)

Come to San Francisco! 

Catch a plane to Fog Town!