being sandy feet

SandBox Inn Review (Hey! I'm an "Institution!")

2009-03-31T16:44:00.002-05:00

From: "Where to Find Luxury Vacation Rentals in South Padre Island" at travel.aol.com

* The SandBox Inn - Owned and operated by local institution "Sandy Feet," the Sandbox Inn is an eclectic mixture of contemporary fusion and old-world creativity. As the top half of her beach house, Sandy Feet rents out the space to families with a creative edge. Use her back yard for creative purposes and bring her a rock when you come!

I love this.

Craft Camp Gals March Madness Birthday Beach Picnic

2009-03-26T20:23:00.003-05:00

Are all car salesmen LIARS?!

2009-03-26T11:34:00.003-05:00

I want to lease a Honda Element. I can so see myself lugging around shovels and buckets in one of those honeys...
Filled out the online form. Got a call from Arnold at Gillman Honda. "I probably can't afford this," sez I, cautiously.
Sure you can, he purrs. What's the top monthly you can do?
$200.
No problem. How much down?
Not sure. You tell me.
How about $1800. Plus the first monthly for a total of $2000.
Really??!! You can do that? On an Element?
Yeah. It's a 2008 though, not a 2009.
I am so there.

So Dad Feets and I drive all the way to San Benito -- only to discover that of course Arnold can't do that. He can't do anything close to that. We ask for the bottom line and it is half again as much as he told me on the phone.

I am angry. Angry about my dashed expectations. Angry about my lost morning. Angry at being duped by a stupid car dealer. Really really angry.

Bottom Line? I recommend avoiding Gillman Honda of San Benito like the plague.

Hey Texas Dog-Lovers!

2009-03-25T11:05:00.002-05:00

Dallasites have an amazing opportunity that I think you should throw your full support behind. The proposed dog park in Frisco sounds like a great idea, and the March 29 "Rover Rally" dog festival sounds like too much fun!

Visit the dogpark website and then join the dogpark facebook group and get involved in making the Big D more dog-friendly.

Which reminds me hat we sure could use something like this here on SPI. I visited a beach in Tasmania that allowed unleashed dog play for a few hours early in the morning. Do you suppose there are enough local dog people - and people who cater to tourists who travel with their dogs - who would throw their support behind a plan like this?

Third Coast at Parrot Eyes

2009-03-23T10:14:00.001-05:00

I thought this shot turned out kinda nice...

Hey Mirage (redux)

2009-03-22T17:03:00.001-05:00

I was out walking the dog in front of your shop again at 8 this morning and saw someone out there cleaning up the parking lot. Good on ya!

When will Psychadeli open in its new location?

2009-03-21T18:06:00.001-05:00

Hey Mirage!

2009-03-18T08:41:00.002-05:00

Shoutout to the T-shirt shop on the corner:

It is 8 AM on Texas Week Wednesday. I am walking my dog, and I notice that you are open. I also see that you clearly have no customers. Bummer that. Upon further observation, I note the trash that has accumulated in your parking lot. I can only surmise that you have at least one employee on duty, and that said employee is undoubtedly sitting on his/her ass - possibly nursing a hangover - instead of cleaning up the mess in the parking lot.

I would unlitter your parking lot - I have done it before - but I just unlittered a large swath of the beach and am feeling unlittered out.

So why can't you pick up your own trash already?

World Championship Sandsculpture Contest at risk

2009-03-16T08:14:00.002-05:00

This from sculptor David Billings (originally posted on Facebook):

**READ AND RESPOND PLEASE** **HARRISON HOT SPRINGS 2009 & FUTURE**
I have spoken with John Green today and he informed me that he will no longer be sponsoring the Sand Sculpture events at Harrison Hot Springs due to his wife having a stroke. Please send him your wishes.

AS FOR FUTURE SAND EVENTS -
John informed me that the Town of Harrison has $100's of thousands of dollars available to put on the sand events, but have no one willing to step up and keep the event going or have any backing by the Mayor or councel. Black Press is still interested in being the Major Sponsor for the event, but with no support from the Town counsel. John also indicated that the Mayor is about to approve $1.5M to erect a concrete tourist attraction around the lagoon area instead of having the sand sculpture events.

I have posted the Mayor's name, number and e-mail address above and a link to Harrison. PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL OR CALL HIM TO VOICE YOUR OPINION, DISAPPOINTMENT OR OTHER COMMENTS

MAYOR: KEN BECOTTE
TELEPHONE: 001.604.796.2171 (-08:00GMT)
E-MAIL: Mayor@HarrisonHotsprings.ca

What my weekly google ego alert turned up

2009-03-15T19:39:00.002-05:00

Folio is the literary agency that represents me.
Lucinda's Press Sheet

BeachBillboard wedding present

2009-03-13T11:42:00.002-05:00

This is how it works:
1. you tell me what you want the billboard to say/look like
2. I pick a pretty day to go build it
3. I shoot some pictures and send you a watermarked sample
4. You send me a few bucks. (I accept checks, credit cards and paypal)
5. I send you photo files
6. You print, frame, post on facebook, etc. etc. etc.

How cool it that?

Why your sand sucks for sandsculpting

2009-03-11T11:42:00.004-05:00

Amazin' Walter took this amazing closeup shot of two very different grades of sandsculpting material. The sample on the right is some of the best beach sand we have had the good fortune to encounter - genuine grade AAA South Padre Island beach sand. The stuff on the left is -- inferior. Definitely inferior.

book list

2009-03-08T07:53:00.002-05:00

BBC Book ListShare
Yesterday at 11:17am
The BBC says that most people have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here. How do your reading habits stack up?
Instructions:
1) Copy the list into a new note and then put an 'x' after those you have read.
2) Add a '+' to the ones you LOVE.
3) Star (*) those you plan on reading.
4) Tally your total at the bottom.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen x+
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien x+
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte x+
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling x+
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee x
6 The Bible x
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte x+
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell x
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman x
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott x+
12 Tess of the D�Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy x
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller x+
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier x
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien x+
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger x+
19 The Time Traveller�s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell x+
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald x
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker�s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams x+
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky x
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck x
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll x
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame x+
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy *
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens x
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis x+
34 Emma - Jane Austen x
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis x+
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Husseini x
38 Captain Corelli�s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne x
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell x
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez x+
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving x+
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy x
48 The Handmaid�s Tale - Margaret Atwood x
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding x
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert x
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen x
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens x
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley x
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez x+
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck x
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold x
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac x
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy x
68 Bridget Jones�s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight�s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens x
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker x
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce x
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath x
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray x
80 Possession - AS Byatt *
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens x+
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker x
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishigaro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert x
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte�s Web - E.B. White x
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery x
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams x+
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas x
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare x
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl x
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

56

Gaining Momentum

2009-03-07T08:18:00.002-06:00

My quest to be sponsored at Texas Sandfest by the businesses and individuals of South Padre Island has been helped along by my friend Will's post at spiforum.org:

This site is self-explanatory.

The PR opportunity for SPI is obvious. Additionally, please know Chapter 351 of the Texas Tax Code makes clear that the Town itself could legitimately sponsor and underwrite such an activity from hotel/motel occupancy tax. I have absolutely no doubt about this permissibility, and in my judgment, it absolutely should do so. Such little community investment for so large a probable return.

Regardless, if those of us who read this forum really want to make SPI special, we should not ignore our local but nationally-recognized talent, but instead support it, especially when it is so clearly beach and Island-related.

Want to do something positive? Do this. What a shame if we do not.

Will Davis

Thanks, Will!
I have thusfar raised a total of $425 towards my goal of $1000, and so far the following names will be carved on my plot billboard:

lawcomix.com
AmazinWalter.com
SPIspa.com
Paragraphs Books
SandBoxInn.com

Want your name up there too? Mere money will get it there - e-me! (lucinda at sandyfeet.com)

Sponsor Me, South Padre!

2009-03-04T11:33:00.002-06:00

Local Sand Sculptor Seeks Sponsorship

Tough economic times are taking their toll on everyone - including South Padre Island sand sculptor Lucinda �sandy feet� Wierenga. She is scheduled to compete at the Texas Sandfest in Port Aransas in April - the largest such event in Texas and one which draws over 100,000 spectators from around the state. But with the event just one month off, she finds herself without sponsorship.

�Sandfest is set up so that individual master sculptors are sponsored by (mostly local) businesses. My longtime sponsor - Port Aransas Realty - was unable to come up with the money this year. I was given permission by the event organizers to offer a sculpted sign at my plot, carved with the name/logo of my sponsor. This will be the only plot with a sculpted sign instead of a banner, which I think will help it stand out in the crowd.... and get photographed right along with the incredibly beautiful sculpture I intend to carve on my plot.�

Wierenga posted this information on her blog, and the response has caused her to formulate another plan that would allow her to say that South Padre Island itself has sponsored her.

�My idea is to carve this �sand billboard� into the form of a big signpost. I envision �South Padre Island� carved large, with an arrow pointing south and �150 miles� (or whatever the exact number is, as the crow flies) carved above it. Below I would carve in smaller type the names of up to 10 individuals or busineses willing to contribute $50- $100 each to have their names or business names carved into the sign. This is very affordable advertising!�

Wierenga plans to carve the sign off the clock, on her own time and early enough in the event to make sure it stands for at least four days, giving it maximum crowd exposure. �I think it will remind everyone who attends that there is another - even better! - end of the island while giving me a good opportunity to talk to the spectators about SPI and our sand sculpture event (Sandcastle Days) that happens in Oct.

Wierenga figures the whole community can benefit from the publicity, as the sponsor also gets mentioned in all the event�s promotional materials. Furthermore, with the total amount divided ten ways, the sponsorship figure becomes manageable.

�And I already have three takers,� she adds with a grin.

More Information:

Texas Sandfest - http://www.texassandfest.com
Lucinda Wierenga - http://www.sandyfeet.com
Beach Billboards - http://www.beachbillboards.com

The list of sponsors as of 3/5/09:

Charles Pugsley Fincher
Amazin' Walter
The SandBox Inn

Hanging out with a photographer

2009-03-03T10:53:00.003-06:00

Steve is a commercial diver from Corpus. And he shoots pretty good, wouldn't you say?

How Embarassing

2009-02-25T17:19:00.006-06:00

I - apparently - do not yet have a sponsor in the Port Aransas SandFest this year. How can this be?!?

My sponsor of many years - Port Aransas Reality - is having a bad year, which shouldn't surprise anyone.

Surely someone has $750 and a big banner touting - something/anything! - that they can hang in front of the very cool and eye-catching (and possibly though not likely, winning) sand sculpture that I fully intend to build in Port Aransas in April of 2009.

As an added bonus, I will throw in a FREE Beachbillboard just to sweeten the pot a little...

C'mon! Don't hold back! Show the feets a little love and sponsor me in Port A already!

Sponsor Info
Photos of sculptures I have built in past Sandfests and elsewhere

letter to the editor of the Valley Morning Star

2009-02-25T10:54:00.001-06:00

Dear Sir:

Does anyone even LOOK at the Rio Living page before it goes to press? Did you really fail to see the disconnect (2/25/09) between your rant against �sexting� (the latest teen trend of objectifying their body parts by texting them around) and - RIGHT NEXT TO IT! - the �Body of Work� piece featuring - among other things - close-up shots of Pamela Anderson�s �artificially enhanced� breasts and Gisele Bundchen�s abdomen? Choosing to prominently feature an article that falls over backwards objectifying women�s body parts - we don�t even get to see the rest of the body that goes with those breasts - was tasteless and irresponsible. A new study makes clear the relationship between lurid photos and effects they have on males:

�Past studies have also shown that when men view images of highly sexualized women, and then interact with a woman in a separate setting, they are more likely to have sexual words on their minds, she said. They are also more likely to remember the woman's physical appearance, and sit closer to her -- for instance, at a job interview.� (Read CNN article at http://bit.ly/5w6Pd)

No wonder kids are doing this stuff - their local paper is blatantly telling them that their body parts are nothing but commodities.

For shame, VMS. For shame.

Sincerely,
Lucinda Wierenga

My first aerial beach billboard!

2009-02-25T10:51:00.004-06:00

Thanks to Dad Feets and Re Boer for helping and islandeventphotos.com for shooting!

Welcome to Paragraphs on Padre!

2009-02-21T06:03:00.005-06:00

We have a new bookstore and I am soooo happy!

Owner Joni let a few of us help her stock the shelves last night and it was an amazing experience. I worked the non-fiction stacks -- started off in History, slid over to Bio/Autobiography -- detoured through SciFi before crashing into Philosophy, Poli-Sci, Self-Help and Religion. Made a quick dash through True Crime, Childcare and Sports before winding down with Decorating and Gardening.

(Was mystified as to why the copies of my sandcastle how-to book turned up on back order -- maybe something to do with the paperback version that is coming out this spring?)

Maybe like me you wondered about the wisdom of opening up an independent book store in these Amazon.com days -- but last night drove home to me all over again how much more pleasurable it is to shop for books in a place where you can pick them up, thumb through the pages, read the jackets and not be afraid to let your eye wander to another cover on the same shelf...

I've missed that. And didn't even know it until last night.

I think Paragraphs is going to be a huge asset to the Island. I see new bookclubs forming. I see visitors looking for just the right beach-reading material or something to keep a cranky kid quiet sighing with happiness when they see all the options. I see locals fixing to climb on a long flight to Madrid stopping in on their way to the airport, looking for something that will melt away the hours.

I see something that will improve our community -- and I encourage everyone to stop by and remember what it was you loved about real bookstores.

Update: Visit Paragraphs at paragraphsbooks.com

Command Performance of the Unlitter Song - tomorrow!

2009-02-20T10:42:00.003-06:00

Here's the Press Release from Shane Wilson Himself!:

Kamp Grounds of America (KOA) is trying to set another record with this year�s KOA Word�s Largest Surf Fishing Tournament and Beach Clean-up. For the last two years KOA and Fish Across Texas have put this event in the Guinness World Records as it truly is the World�s Largest Surf Fishing Tournament. This year KOA is going �GREEN�. They want to use this event to collect and remove 20,000 pounds of trash from the beaches of South Padre Island and Cameron County.

Tournament organizers, Shane Wilson and Danno Wise of Fish Across Texas, have contacted local businesses and have collected many prizes which will be given away at the conclusion of the tournament. During the weigh in awards ceremony, drawings will be held and prizes will be awarded to those individuals who have the winning tickets. Tickets can be purchased in front of Pier 19 located within the KOA property the day of the tournament. The price of a ticket is one bag of trash. For each bag of trash collected and brought in to KOA and Pier 19, one ticket will be returned. If an individual brings in three bags of trash they will receive three tickets. If someone brings in 13 bags of trash they will receive 13 tickets and so on. The object is to pick up trash and trade it in for tickets. Prizes have been donated by Schlitterbahn�s, Ramada Limited, Benny�s By-The-Bay, Fish Across Texas, Pier 19, Palms Resort and Caf�, Tom & Jerry�s, Pirate�s Landing, and other local businesses that support the �UNLITTERIT� campaign.

Register on-line at www.FishAcrossTexas.com or go to Pier 19 this Saturday morning to register. Bring several trash bags and bring the whole family.

Note: I am donating a beach billboard (sand sculpture customed with your message/name/logo -- see beachbillboards.com for more info.

Sea Turtle's Fragile Recovery at Risk?

2009-02-19T07:24:00.002-06:00

Reading a story about Ike's effects that also mentions dredging -- happening right now on SPI:

"Sand dredged from nearby channels for rebuilding beaches might not exhibit the same physical and chemical characteristics that washed away and could render (sea turtle)nest building and egg incubation problematic."

read the article

buy experiences, not things!

2009-02-17T18:47:00.001-06:00

I knew this.

A new study demonstrates that experiential purchases, such as a meal out or theater tickets,(or a group sandcastle lesson!-sf) result in increased well-being because they satisfy higher order needs, specifically the need for social connectedness and vitality -- a feeling of being alive.

Read the article

When I Grow Up I'm Gonna Wear a Bikini - (Ukulele Original)

2009-02-17T16:57:00.001-06:00

I love this.

SoB word cloud

2009-02-15T18:21:00.002-06:00

still playing...