Indiegogo is a crowd-funding platform where people spread the word about their passion. They usually offer their “contributors” some kind of thank-you gift. People that make a donation to the campaign feel good that they are able to contribute towards something that they want to happen. In this situation, they’ll get to have a sense of ownership over a business that provides an essential service to our community. Yup, I said it, “an essential service.”

People that contribute towards opening Jane’s Beer Store will get their name engraved on the “Contributors Wall of Fame” in the store. Jane is offering all kinds of other beer related thank you gifts, depending on the level of the donation. Please check her page on Indiegogo for all the details. Mountain View loves beer and very soon we’ll have our own unique little beer store where we can make requests, meet other beer enthusiasts, and learn about beers from all over the world.

Jane Thipphavong lives and works in Mountain View. She’s actually an astronaut at NASA*. Her store will be downtown on Villa and she hopes to open mid June. She told me that she wants to re-introduce people to the world of beer. She knows that Mountain View has lots of “soon-to-be-beer-lovers” and she’s excited about meeting them and sharing her passion.

Jane’s Beer Store will stock artisan craft beer, local beer, hard cider, root beer and beer from many international breweries. She’s had a dream of opening a beer store for years. I really love the idea that residents have the chance to make a small donation towards something that they feel passionate about and that Jane chose Mountain View as the place where she would turn her hobby into a business. I know that many locals want downtown Mountain View to have more retail and Jane’s Beer Store is a perfect example the kind of unique businesses that we want. Welcome to Mountain View Jane.

* She’s not really an astronaut, but she does work at NASA.

I asked him what kinds of issues people bring to him. He can answer questions about all kinds of city related problems, anything from zoning, to affordable housing, to relocating a business to Mountain View. If he doesn’t know the answer, he can steer you in the right direct. That’s what these meeting are all about—helping residents and businesses cut through the red tape that they might be facing in our city. Mike doesn’t have any individual power as far as getting things done, (that’s what he claims anyway, but I think he probably has more than he realizes) but he does know who we need to talk to “unclog” things. Sometimes residents just want to ask him why the city made certain decisions around town or why he voted for or against something. He’s happy to explain himself.

Just to be totally clear, any of our council members can do the same thing for residents, but the mayor usually offers these official meeting hours. Any of them would be willing to answer questions and they can all be reached through the city website. The position of mayor rotates every year. This is Mike’s second term as our mayor.

When you arrive at the meeting, take a number from the table that Mike is sitting at and fill out the little form so he has your contact information. He will most likely already be having a conversation with someone, but he’ll let you know as soon as it is your turn. Sometimes he speaks with as many as 15 people while he’s sitting at the coffee shop. I really like that our city officials are so friendly and easy to make contact with and I love living in Mountain View.

The theatre only seats 45 lucky people. If you want to be one of them, you have to plan ahead. In June they will celebrate their 10 year anniversary. They are in an unexpected industrial building and if you aren’t really looking for a theatre, you might not even notice it at all. That only makes it feel more special.

Pear Slices is a special production that the theatre does every year. This year it was 9 little plays, each about 7 to 10 minutes. The plays were all written by members of the Pear Avenue Playwrights Guild. Pear Slices 2012 runs through June 3^rd. Visit their website for tickets as soon as possible because this particular play sells out very quickly.

My favorite actors in Pear Slices were Sam Tillis and Fred Pitts. Sam was in 4 of the 9 plays and Fred was in 5 of them. The subjects covered in the 9 plays were so varied and interesting that I almost wanted a few minutes in between each play to process what I had just seen. One of the plays, No Dogs Go to Heaven by Bridgette Portman, was about rationalizing the misguided belief that you are separate from the lives around you.

In my opinion, going to a play at Pear Avenue Theatre is so much more enjoyable than going to a movie and there is plenty of parking. You’ll be supporting local artists and live theatre which is so important. Lots of people in the audience were introducing themselves to their neighbors before the play started. It was really a very friendly and comfortable atmosphere. I think I should probably considering buying season tickets to Pear Avenue Theatre—I liked it that much! I love Mountain View.

She’s been a vet for almost 20 years and became a Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist in 2005. Dr. McCain does house calls. She told me that she noticed lots of her patients (or their owners) were interested in a more holistic treatment as opposed to taking pills for chronic conditions, so she started offering animal acupuncture.  Some of the conditions that are treated with acupuncture are pain, paralysis, asthmatic problems, inflammatory bowel disease and sinus problems. She also offers Chinese herbal medications that are formulated especially for animals.

She offers acupuncture treatment on the peninsula (at the patient’s home) and at her office in Mountain View. Sometimes large animals are difficult to get into a vehicle and especially if they have some kind of back pain or issues that require veterinary help. It’s very helpful to the owner for Dr. McCain to drive to their home when animals are in pain or difficult to move; it’s also much less stressful on the animal if they can stay in their usual environment.

Romeo was at his 2^nd acupuncture treatment the day that I went to see him. He’s been having difficulty jumping up onto furniture and going up and down the stairs in his home. He didn’t seem to mind having 16 needles poked in him at all. He just looked out the window and watched birds while his tail swished back and forth a bit. The treatment lasted 20 minutes. The needles seemed to having a calming effect on him. Dr. McCain told my friend that Romeo would probably be very mellow when they got home and that he would be sleepy as a result of the acupuncture.

I asked Dr. McCain what kinds of other animals she has performed acupuncture on and she said that she has treated mostly cats and dogs, but that she has also done rabbits and chinchillas. I really love that our community has someone offering this service to our pets. Please visit Dr. McCain’s website or email her for more details. Thanks Sharlene for inviting me to join Romeo at his appointment. I love Mountain View.

They’ve actually been doing much more than making robots for the last 10 years. They offer full-time and part-time programs in software engineering, software management, electrical & computer engineering, technology innovation management, and more.  Obviously, you should check out their website for the details.

They’re doing some amazing research as well, some of it focuses on cyber security, including browser, mobile and wireless. Protecting the cloud from theft, corruption, and natural disaster, while allowing the information and property to remain accessible and productive is what we want and they seem to have it figured out. Or at the very least, they’re working on it, day and night.

Another area that Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley is doing a great deal of work is with their Disaster Management Initiative. In a major disaster, the technology that we normally use to communicate, would potentially fail and we would need help. They’re preparing to provide solutions. They have a strong relationship with NASA, and many other organizations, and they also have the ability to bring in any experts or help that we might need in a crisis. They would be able to coordinate citizens, emergency responders and establish command centers. They know how to harness the power of social media. They’ve actually studied our tweeting habits. And in a time of disaster, people wouldn’t want to learn a new technology or software in order to ask for help; people want to tweet. I had no idea they’re doing this right here in Mountain View and now I’m feeling quite a bit safer.

The building that Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley is in was a hospital 90 years ago. It has an archway that looks like an old drive-through. That’s where the ambulances would park to unload patients. And their basement used to be the morgue. It’s true and as soon as I heard that part, I couldn’t wait to write about it! I love Mountain View.

That’s when Sandrine Cornet, a waitress/bartender at Zucca, decided to gather investors and become the new owner. She has worked at Zucca for the past 7 years. It’s still in escrow, so the ownership hasn’t officially been signed over yet, but it looks like Sandrine, “a small woman with a big heart” according to her staff, will be the new owner.

I think it would be so nice if the community showed support to this restaurant that has been part of our community for the past 10 years, and also to Sandrine for saving herself and 15 of her co-workers from unemployment.

Remzi, the manager that I spoke with, told me that they’ll still serve their famous ravioli, salmon wraps and burgers for lunch. And they’ll still have the lamb shank and striped bass at dinner. They’ll still have the same quality service that we’ve come to expect; the only difference will be the name change. It will transition to “B’ Zu Café” very soon. Right now the building has both names, but watch for changes as “Zucca” comes down. And the website is still in transition too. Let’s all raise a toast to Sandrine for having the courage to save everyone’s job and take on the responsibility of being a business owner in downtown Mountain View! I’ll see you at Happy Hour (4-7) at B’ Zu Cafe, 186 Castro Street. I love Mountain View.

Earlier this week I spent some time in a few art classes at the ‘Waldorf School of the Peninsula’ in Mountain View. The whole time I was there, I kept thinking how much I would have loved being a student at that school.

Lucy Wurtz, the Development Director of the school, led me around through some classes and talked to me about the artwork that was posted in the halls. Although Waldorf School isn’t specifically an art school and the academic curriculum is rather rigorous, there is a great deal of emphasis on the arts. The high school students study fine arts, practical arts, drama and music. I asked what kinds of “practical arts” the younger students learn and Lucy told me felting, crochet, knitting, and cross stitch.

I filmed some of the classes. In the first part of the little video I was in the “Architectural Design and Model Building” class. The students are using the traditional tools that an architect would use to create diagrams and plans for a new building. I like that it wasn’t being done using AutoCAD or some other quick draw software. They learn how to do it the real way, with engineering rulers, triangles, protractors and a compass. And they even learn how to freehand the proper lettering used on architectural drawings.

I also went into a weaving class. The students were learning to use a loom to make a scarf. The day I visited was the first day of ceramics for the freshmen. They were asked to recreate an organic shape out of clay. The instructor passed out different shapes and everyone went to work with nothing but a ball of clay and a small wooden carving tool. I peeked in on a water color painting class. A few students stood in front of easels and each worked on their “veil paintings.”   They layer many layers of very thin, watery paint to slowly build up the saturation level. The completed images that were hanging in the hallway were beautiful.

And, much to my surprise, my favorite class that I visited was the Eurythmy class. It looked similar to modern dance. The students are learning a sense of space through movement and they’re also learning to communicate sounds through movement. The room is spotless and carpeted and the students take their shoes off. The instructor guides them through each song as the piano plays in the corner of the room. I could have stayed and watched them all afternoon.

I noticed how well all of the students got along with each other and mentioned it to Lucy. She explained to me that many of them have known each other for years and that they feel like family to each other. It is such a nurturing environment and it was obvious that the students were having fun and laughing with each other, not at each other.

Waldorf  School of the Peninsula is having an enrollment open house on March 31^st. It’s for both students and parents. It’s from 10 am to 12:30 pm at their “new campus” here in Mountain View, 180 N. Rengstorff Ave. Waldorf is accredited by WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) and by AWSNA ( Association of Waldorf Schools of North America). I was so impressed with everything I saw and I left feeling like I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to see so many amazing places around town and then write about them. I love Mountain View.

The Mountain View Chamber of Commerce is well connected to companies in Silicon Valley and they’re bringing in Google, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook,  and Yelp to speak. Can you imagine seeing all of those companies together on stage at one event? There will also be presentations on blogging, using mobile coupons and creating email campaigns.

The event is designed to help business owners and employees improve their social media skills so they can more effectively market themselves and their products or services. If you’ve been busy running your business for years and aren’t quite caught up to speed on how to make an eye-catching business page on Facebook or how to create a business profile for your company on LinkedIn, this just might be a good event for you to attend. If you don’t have much social networking experience, this event will catch you up to everyone else and if you already have a great deal of experience, this event will be a good chance to fine-tune your skills. Be sure to think up a few hard questions to bring for the Q&A portion of the program, or to spring on the presenters during the networking session afterwards.

YouTube has over 500 million unique users each month, people on Facebook install over 20 million apps everyday, there are over 190 million tweets posted daily on Twitter, and over 135 million people are proudly posting their professional accomplishments on LinkedIn for the world to see. I want to hear all about the latest tips and tricks and I want to hear them directly from the people who created them.

Google+ was the fastest social media website to reach 10 million users. It happened in just 16 days. Twitter took 780 days and Facebook 852 days. One in every nine people on Earth is on Facebook. I think it’s so exciting that those companies are right here in our neighborhood and that they’ve changed the world. I feel honored to live right in the middle of the Silicon Valley and I hope to see you on May 1^st.

Cinderella opens March 3 and runs through March 11, 2012. It’s a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical adaptation of the classic fairy-tale. Here’s a link to Cinderella tickets. And the special production that includes parents, PYT staff and alumni is called “To PYT with Love” and it’s only one night, Thursday, March 8^th.  This show is a collection of some of the most popular numbers that PYT has done over the years. It shows the audience what it’s like to be backstage during a performance and working in a theatre. They’re poking fun at themselves and some the people involved in theatre. Sounds like fun to see the tables turned, parents up on stage singing and dancing while the kids watch (and giggle) from the audience.

There are several narrators in the show and one of them is Brian Miller. Brian was in PYT as a teenager and now he is working as a choreographer for the company.  He grew-up in PYT and now he’s a seasoned professional and they’re quite proud of him.

Getting your child involved in PYT is a great way to build self-esteem. Kids involved in theatre learn about creativity, problem solving and collaboration skills. They get the chance to learn about public speaking at an early age. And they learn about commitment and dedication, much like they would if they were on a sports team. I recently met with a group of girl scouts and one of them in particular was very confident and out-spoken. It occurred to me that she might be in children theatre, so I asked her. Yes, she was in PYT and it was obvious. She had lots of creative ideas and she was good at, not just sharing her opinions with the group, but persuading the others to agree with her ideas.

PYT is a fabulous activity for a child. Check out their website to see the details on auditions and rehearsals and what it takes to get involved. And go see a show, either Cinderella or To PYT with Love would be a great choice. I love Mountain View.