Last week I attended a class in the Cal State Northridge Library. I moved the mouse to the left-hand side and then attempted to reverse the mouse buttons. Normally I simply use control Panel to change the mouse settings. But Control Panel was not visible on the library’s computer. There was an “Accessibility” menu, but none of the things listed there had anything to do with making the computer accessible to lefties. I asked the librarian in charge of the class how to switch the mouse buttons. She didn’t know how and went to get someone else. She came back with a guy who told me that there was no way to switch the buttons because Control Panel had been disabled for security reasons. He claimed that I was the first person who had ever asked for this. I told him I wouldn’t be the last. He said it would probably be another twelve years before that happened. Wow! My right handed friends agreed with me that his response was inappropriate. And, seriously, if we were talking about accessibility for people who speak Japanese (which was available on that computer) would it matter how many or how often? Would the library refuse to meet the needs of all the various ethnic and religious groups, deaf people, or people with disabilities who are on campus, simply because they haven’t often made these requests? I don’t think so.
Reversing the mouse button is a simple thing that has been easy to do on PCs for many, many years. Not every lefty reverses the mouse buttons, but many do. In fact, even some righties do this, so they can use the mouse in the left hand while taking notes with the right. The point is, those of us who need to use the mouse in this perfectly normal way should not be placed at a disadvantage.
So here’s my request. Whether or not you are left-handed, and whether or not you prefer to switch the mouse buttons, if you are a CSUN student (or anyone who has business on campus) please go to the library and ask for help reversing the mouse buttons for left-handed use. Be polite but firm. In your conversation with the librarian, make sure you use the word “accessible”. For example, “It’s hard to use the library when the computers aren’t accessible.” Or, “How do you plan to address this accessibility problem?” You might also want to use the word “discrimination”, as in, “I’m very surprised to find this kind of discrimination going on here.”
It's amazing, the things you can learn just browsing through a university catalog. Our own Cal State Northridge offers a minor in gerontology. One of the required courses is, of course, "Introduction to Gerontology". It covers some of the things you might expect: issues of health, economics, social roles, etc. Among other things, students have the opportunity to engage in volunteer work at "agencies for persons over 55". I'm almost certain that isn't a typo. Fifty-five. Quite seriously, I would have expected people to be at least 70 before falling into this category. But maybe I had gerontology confused with geriatrics. Geriatrics is an area of medicine dealing with elderly patients. I've always expected that to mean people older than 70. (And a lot of people in their 70's will tell you they aren't elderly yet.) Gerontology is the study of the aging process, and includes more than just medicine. Let's face it, we are all aging all the time. Even so, in this era when we are told that "50 is the new 30", I don't think there are very many fifty-five-year-olds who are eager to find junior gerontologists following them around and taking notes.
Gerald Fecht is the president of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley and a tireless blogger. While some of us struggle to post once or twice a week, Jerry sometimes posts several articles in a single day. He is well-versed in history and also seems to know everything that's happening right now. He posts photos from the museum's archives, as well as recently-snapped pics of public art, landscapes, buildings and people. 
A long stretch of Topanga Canyon Boulevard has received temporary no parking signs so that some kind of road work can be done. One section in particular has become notorious for the illegal signs that the city allows to park here. This morning, most of the signs had been removed. Someone had placed the no-parking signs prominently on the two that remained, probably hoping that the city really will enforce regulations and tow them away. We'll see what happens.
Agapanthus is sometimes called Lily of the Nile, African Blue Lily, or similar names. There are several species of this South African native, but most sold in nurseries here are agapanthus praecox or its subspecies agapanthus orientalis, even though they are sometimes mislabeled as agapanthus africanus. Once established, they are drought tolerant, and do well in almost any area with well-drained soil. They like full or part sun, and bloom during spring and summer. Some produce white flowers, others are light blue or lavender. Hummingbirds love them!
"Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey starts a run at Staples Center on Wednesday, a booking long planned in advance. In the pre-dawn hours before Jackson's memorial, the elephants walked from the train station to the arena, arriving some five hours before the memorial." This statement appeared on the website of our local 
These gigantic trucks are always hazardous in city traffic. If you're stuck behind one, you can't see over or around it; if it is tailgating you (as they usually are), it completely fills the rear view mirror; and they frequently straddle the line that is supposed to divide the lanes. It often seems that the drivers just don't have a feeling for how big these things really are or exactly where they are positioned, or that they really don't care because they know they can bully everyone else on the road. They are clearly inappropriate for trips to the mall or the grocery store, but all too often they are found, like this one, arrogantly taking up four parking spots.
The Los Angeles Fire Department wants you to remember that fireworks are illegal in the city of Los Angeles, and in all other cities serviced by the LAFD. Every year, thousands of people are treated in emergency rooms for injuries caused by illegal fireworks. You may also have noticed that, in addition to the dry brush which already surrounds many of our neighborhoods, many people have stopped watering their lawns, leaving their houses surrounded by dry fuel. It takes only one spark to set off a serious fire. Please enjoy professional fireworks shows. Don't risk your life and your property.
A blogger named Angela has just started "
I just thought it was interesting that the grocery store classified cat food as "nonedible". I'm not going to tell the cats.
My little "patio tomato" plant is progressing nicely. It sits in a pot at the edge of the patio, of course. I also have a pair of larger plants in another part of the garden that are just starting to develop fruit. 
The common side-blotched lizard (Uta stansburiana) is one of the most abundant lizards in South California. They are able to survive in a variety of habitats, and prefer open, rocky areas. As with many other lizards in this region, their tails may break off if they are caught, and will grow back to some extent. Their life span is only about a year, and they produce eggs in the spring and summer. Active during the day, they eat small invertebrates. They should be very happy in this area, where we have a huge supply of crickets and grasshoppers.
I found this hummingbird nest on the patio. Old nests often tumble from trees or blow in on the wind. I have a feeling this one was never used; typically the used nests are more compacted, especially on the inside. Made of local plant materials, this was a little over two inches in diameter.
While thousands of potholes remain unfilled and many streets are so cracked and buckled as to be undrivable, city officials have decided it's a good idea to contribute a million dollars of public money to a parade honoring a for-profit company that can afford to pay up to $21 million a year to its top employees. The parade, scheduled for Wednesday, is intended to celebrate the Lakers' recent NBA championship. The million in question is about half the estimated cost of the event. The other half is to be paid for by the Lakers.
A short article in yesterday's Los Angeles Times reported that the DWP will pay $1 per square foot to single-family residential customers who replace their green lawns with pre-approved, drought-tolerant plants. The DWP website indicates that consumers can receive rebates for installing synthetic turf or rotating sprinkler heads. Additionally, there are programs for various water-efficient or electricity-saving appliances. The details of these programs are not well explained on the website; to get information on how to participate, call the DWP at 888-376-3314.
Today marks the beginning of mandatory water usage reduction in Los Angeles. Yes, San Fernando Valley, that means you, too.
Anyone who uses an automatic sprinkler system wants to know if a broken sprinkler head is allowing all that precious H2O to shoot skyward. When I pass a house that has that problem, I knock on the door and let the people inside know what's happening. Usually, they are grateful for the information and eager to make repairs. My guess is that most wouldn't be as receptive to complaints about what time of day they water or how wet the sidewalk is.
I recently visited the West Valley Animal Care Center on Plummer Street in Chatsworth. The city of Los Angeles no longer uses the term "Animal Shelter"; apparently it's too restrictive, or perhaps not euphemistic enough. This was the first time I had been there since the recent, major renovation, and I was pleasantly surprised. Unfortunately, this will sound as though I am damning it with faint praise: it is now the nicest animal shelter I've ever seen.
in the wings that are still a bit too young for public viewing. (I recommend adopting an adult cat. As experienced pets, they adapt well to household living, and are generally easier to care for and less destructive than kittens.) The cats looked clean and healthy, and most seemed interested in interacting with visitors.
Today is yet another special election in Los Angeles. On the ballot are six propositions relating to taxes and budgets, a runoff for city attorney, and community college district trustees. The polls will be open from 7:00am to 8:00pm. If you don't know where your polling place is, you can find it at 
This California pepper tree (Schinus molle) is a volunteer in my garden. Less than two years old, it is already more than ten feet tall. Originally it had two main branches veeing away from the base, but one was damaged by winter storms and had to be cut away. The tree now has about half the volume it would otherwise have had.
The green bins are for yard trimmings. The blue bins are for recyclable items. The black bins are for (non toxic) trash. This system has been in place for many years. So when our neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Loud,* stuffed their green and blue bins full of old carpeting, they were the only ones to be surprised that the bins weren't emptied. "I didn't know," Mrs. L claimed later that morning. Luckily for her, the truck handling black bins had not yet arrived. So she waited by the bins, told the driver of the trash truck she had made a "mistake", and got him to empty these. It's a good thing, too, because the Louds' excess trash has a way of mysteriously appearing in other people's bins in the middle of the night.
I photographed these daddy long-legs spiders (
Usually found in or around houses, the daddy long-legs is sometimes also called the cellar spider. (It is occasionally confused with a couple of other species that are also sometimes called long-legs or daddy long-legs.) They like to hang upside down from their webs and wait for prey. They eat small insects and spiders. When food is short, they will eat their own kind.
Last night someone informed me that the 
We expect to see seagulls at Lake Balboa, but this raucous flock was gathered around a rather pathetic puddle in a parking lot at Victory and Owensmouth. The real attraction seemed to be an uncovered dumpster filled with garbage from a couple of nearby restaurants.
It's not unusual to find grasshoppers drowned in the pool, but this one saved itself by perching on a hose. The gray bird grasshopper (Schistocerca nitens) is native to the American southwest. We see a lot of them here this time of year. They appear in shades of gray or brown, and can be as much as three inches long. (This one was definitely that big.) They eat plants, but unlike some other species (including locusts) they do not form huge, destructive swarms. They fly rather awkwardly, sometimes crashing into people when they should be escaping.
The fox squirrel is not native to California. Around 1904, military veterans from the Mississippi Valley area, who were staying at the Sawtelle Veterans Home on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, brought the animals here from their homes. By the 1940s the fox squirrel had come to be considered an agricultural pest. During the past century, it has expanded its range, and is now found throughout the Santa Monica Mountains, San Fernando Valley and Simi Valley. The animals are seen as far south as the Palos Verdes Peninsula, and to the east throughout Orange County. After so many generations, they probably consider themselves natives, but many naturalists are concerned that they may be displacing our true native species, the western gray squirrel (sciurus griseus).
