Yvette Keller

Category: Article

  • Book Review: The Binge Continues

    Book Review: The Binge Continues

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    Yvette
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    My historical romance binge continues with a three-book series called The Extraordinaries, by author Melissa McShane. Let’s be honest: I read these books because of the GORGEOUS covers. It happens. You will probably enjoy this series if you are a fan of naval war books like the Horatio Hornblower novels but with a fantasy twist,…

  • 2018 Reading Goals: JASNA Book Club

    2018 Reading Goals: JASNA Book Club

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    Yvette
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    One of my goals this year is to read more books. Since I love talking about what I read, a way to do that is to read and discuss with my local JASNA chapter (which happens to be the Ventura JASNA Book Club). If you want to join the fun, we will be reading: January…

  • Reading for Escape

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    Yvette
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    Permission (from me) to immerse myself in books is my favorite thing about the winter holiday. Curling up, warm and cozy, with nothing to do but sleep in, read, and eat holiday foods is one flavor of paradise. Over the past few years, holiday reading is also about trying to catch up to my annual…

  • Thomas Fire: Day 17

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    Yvette
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    I think we’re going to be ok. By “we” I mean my beloved home town of Santa Barbara. Me? I was never in real danger. (Right?) The Thomas fire is now the 2nd largest in the history of CA. The LA Times says that looks like this: This fire is losing to better weather, and an…

  • Thomas Fire: Day 7

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    Yvette
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    Back to Scary. Fire spreading very fast. Being fought very hard. I’m helping older friends prepare and evac. by calling them, their out of town family, and offering to home their stuff. Fire on track to be the record largest fire ever… …not fun. Fingers crossed tomorrow will be better news.  

  • Thomas Fire: Day 6

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    Yvette
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    I haven’t left my house since Monday. At first it was the sore throat and congestion. Then the air quality kept me inside with every window shut tight and air filters going. We decided to catch up on errands and see a movie, Jane, today. The new Santa Barbara International Film Featival Headquarters and the…

  • Thomas Fire: Day 5 and Evacuation Opinions

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    Yvette
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    Good morning, and welcome to good fire news! Winds are cooperating and the fire did not move much overnight. It is still only 10% contained, but uncontained in unpopulated areas. I grieve for the trees and wildlife of Los Padres National Forest, but am glad the coast is safe. Air quality in SB is much…

  • Thomas Fire: Night 4

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    Yvette
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    Emergency preparedness, CHECK. I’m missing some water bottles, but otherwise the list looks good. I’ve staged true emergency items. Will pack a bag with clothes in the AM. I also began to contemplate how photos and photo albums could best be transported, and decided the answer is old luggage and duffel bags with handles and…

  • Thomas Fire: Day 4

    Thomas Fire: Day 4

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    Yvette
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    Thanks to the WiFire tool, it is possible to scare yourself shitless while waiting to see whether your beloved city will be destroyed by fire. From their website: WIFIRE is an integrated system for wildfire analysis, with specific regard to changing urban dynamics and climate. The system integrates networked observations such as heterogeneous satellite data…

  • Finnemore Fridays: Train Travel

    Finnemore Fridays: Train Travel

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    Yvette
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    Amtrak and I have a love-hate relationship. I love the uninterrupted (except by beautiful views) work time. I often choose the train to travel so I can QC audiobooks, write, and occasionally catch up on sleep from late-night recording sessions. Something about the Ca-Chunk, Ca-Chunk rhythm (modern trains do not clickety-clack, alas) and the camaraderie of…