Palm Springs is a moniker that most folks think of fits the entire Coachella Valley, including all her cities from Palm Springs to Palm Desert to Indio. The entire desert seems to fit into the concept of what is commonly thought of as Palm Springs, unless of course you happen to want to live here and own a piece of Real Estate. Then, there's a major difference.

Palm Springs is mostly older homes built from the 1980's and earlier. A lot of the homes were built in the 1960's and 1970's by a developer named Bob Alexander and these mid-century modern homes have grown to be quite popular. And the highly desirable older neighborhoods will most likely have unique homes built from the 1930's to the 1960's. Also, Palm Springs has a quaint and often times struggling downtown filled with mostly independent merchants that cater to the tourism and limited local clients of the city. There are few if any major retailers in the downtown business district, though if you're looking for dinner and entertaining night life, Palm Springs is the place.

Prior to the 1990's, PS was the main hub of the desert and while it was always a retirement community, there were a large amount of families there. But somehow, the families have largely moved more down valley to Palm Desert or La Quinta. The main influx of home buyers in Palm Springs in the last 20 years has been primarily a Gay population that these days are very prominent and visible about town. Most City Council seats are won by openly Gay candidates. Thanks to this influx, property values in Palm Springs have retained their values significantly and many heretofore undesirable neighborhoods have seen a revival.

PS offers the Villagefest street fair; a lovely way to spend an evening. The main street of Palm Canyon is blocked off to driving traffic and by 6pm the street is filled with vendors of food, art, collectibles and other hand-crafted items. It makes for a great evening and is my personal favorite way to stroll through downtown. Music fills the air as the sounds of street musicians ply their instruments in an attempt to sell their CD's and services. I've bought several CD's for the popular guitar and wind instruments reminiscent of Southwestern sounds.

Palm Desert on the other hand is mostly newer homes built from the 1970's to the present. Often times a purchaser can locate a home built in the past 5-20 years that is in excellent condition. Major condominium and country club developments fill the area and major shopping complexes offer the best of retail. Saks Fifth Avenue, El Paseo, May company, JC Penney's, Best Buy, Costco, The Westfield Shopping Mall, Barnes & Noble these are but a few of the stores in the city of Palm Desert. El Paseo is a lovely street to walk down during the day or weekends, and although the retailers mostly close at night there are still several restaurants to enjoy for dinner.

PD boasts many of the top schools in the area, as indicated by the California state index of performance. Nearly all the schools are either a 9 or 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. And several of the schools have become chartered schools due the direction of the involved parents and administrators that are seeking the highest possible quality of deliverable education. Some of these schools have waiting lists to gain attendance even if you purchase a home within their designated district.

PD off the College of the Desert Street fair and while many of the same musicians ply their trade there, it is filled with vendors of new merchandise in an entirely trendy and upscale venue on Saturday and Sunday mornings till just after 12 noon.

So, if you'll let all these facts seep in you'll find that Palm Springs is a city of unique older neighborhoods with small shops and a walk around or bicycle ride around town kind of feel that mainly attracts tourists, seniors and Gay residents - what I like to refer to as an Adult lifestyle community.

On the other hand, Palm Desert is newer homes, drive-to destinations of major shopping outlets with a family centric orientation.

Either one is a great place to live or visit, it just comes down to what you want to enjoy. I've lived in both cities and have been a resident of the Palm Springs area for over 30 years. Palm Springs or Palm Desert, both offer pristine views of the mountains, blue skies and spectacular weather.

There are only too many problems hindering the growth of Sierra Leonean literature. This includes the lack of a publishing house. As a result only those lucky and resilient enough to persist until they are noticed by a multi-national publishing firm and thus becoming published, survive as writers. There is also a lack of other alternative outlets such as literary journals or magazines. Apart from the fact that newspapers do not usually provide space for creative writing, they do very little to stimulate the production and growth of literature. When works get published by Sierra Leoneans they seldom get much attention in the press.

Another problem facing the literary art is the total lack of support from the government for literary activities. No support is given to efforts at creating literary outlets such as journals and magazines. A most glaring example of this unsupportive climate is seen in the Sierra Leone Association of Writers and Illustration having to subsist on only subscription with no government subvention whatsoever until its final demise.

The inhibiting influence of the acute shortage of electricity supply cannot be over emphasized. What I wish to underscore is that blackout and writing make uneasy bedfellows. Therefore in such a scenario writers wither, for they have to change their writing schedules and habits or perish.

The shortage, or expensiveness of stationary which are basic materials for the writer is another inhibiting factor. Stationary I think ranges from machineries such as typewriters to pens, pencils, paper, carbon and envelopes. Then with the completion of a manuscript comes the problem of dispatching it to a publisher. As most publications are based abroad, writers are left to bear the soaring postal rates. This is because with the present commercialization, the post office has ceased to be a social service. The widespread acceptance of submissions by e-mails is now minimizing this problem. As for me I find the convenience of e-mail so much easier, faster and cheaper that I have virtually forgotten about snail mails.

Books and other writing materials continue to be receiving heavy duties. Levies on books and other basic writing materials should be abolished if developments of the literature of Sierra Leone should be nurtured and this should be a consistent policy of government. Books and materials for their production should be free from all taxes and duties. There should now be a dramatic break from the past negative attitude to literacy and literature, In the past this has not been so. As a result there ihas been an ever diminishing demand for booksellers to order books except those whose demand is high as a result of being required at schools. Now the situation is much more desperate as indicated in another article I wrote 'The Strruggle of the Book in Sierra Leone.' which was published in FOCUS on International Library and Information Work.

A related problem is the negative effect of the recession on the once thriving bookshops. Sawyer's bookshop is of course no longer there. The Fourah Bay College Bookshop closed several years ago leaving no bookshop to service the book demands of a whole college. The Fourah Bay College Bookshop was important not only because it stocked a wide selection of books including the most recent literary ones but it also organized literary events such as poetry readings and published from time to time cyclostyled pamphlets containing collections of poems of poets as Dominic Ofori. I am not sure whether the Njala Bookshop is still operating. But here in town it is indeed painful to see the once central and indispensable buying center for school-books as well as other readings for the general public, the C..M.S. Bookshop now Sierra Leone Diocesan Bookshop folding up rapidly. Today they are occupying only a third of the space they once held. A bookshop recently opened at Fourah Bay College raising hopes of a renaissance.

The problem of a lack of a sustaining and economic reading public does not provide enough incentives for encouraging the setting up of publishing endeavors. Official indications is that only 15% of our 3 ½ million people are literate. Of those who are officially literate it is probable that the vast majority of them are to all practical purposes semi-literate as they read nothing beyond the weekly or fortnightly newspaper. This kind of insipidness has been contributed to by a sterile and unimaginative educational system which allows little room for creativity. As a result the society sustained is one that is indifferent and insensitive and unsupportive of the literary arts.

Recession has further intensified these negative attitudes. Even those who are literarily committed change their habits as the need for survival becomes more compelling.

A major problem which faces writers and artists is that of producing their works without any certainty of the protection of their works form pirates and other threats. It is astonishing that in a country where courts are full of litigation, over physical properties-landed as well as otherwise, little or no place is still afforded litigants over trespass on their intellectual property. This is not because there have been no such infringements. Neither is it because we have no copyright laws, for there is solid evidence now of the existence of one from 1965 though which many would claim needs updating. It is still been bemoaned that Sierra Leone remains one of the few countries in the world which is still not a signatory to either of the international copyright conventions, universal or Berne.

The problem of which language to write is one which persists for many writers in Africa. If he writes in English he will not be read widely in his country. This is even more so in Sierra Leone where only 15% are literate in English. But again which of the over 10 languages will he choose. And if he does choose one of the less developed national languages there is the fear that obscurity will remain his lot as he will not be read beyond the narrow national or ethnic confines of his locale. But the famous Kenyan Writer Ngugi Wa'Thiongo has proved that this need not be so. He now writes his novels in his native Gikuyu and then translates them into English thus killing two birds with one stone.

Already, with the advantageous position taken by Krio now almost a de-facto Lingua Franca being spoken widely throughout the country and now being predominantly used in the theatre Sierra Leonean writers are more blessed with a ready choice if they should wish to reach their people first. Already an orthography has been made and a dictionary published. A few works including the Krio dictionary are already available. This position alone gives some prospects for the development of the literary scene especially so when placed besides the pioneering work of Gladys Casely- Hayford and Thomas Decker.

The pioneering role of Sierra Leone in the fields of education, writing and journalism alone should make it ideal for the flourishing of creative literary works. It was after all the seat of the first and most prestigious college which produced some of the leading elite who were to lead their continent's development. It also had the first blossoms of schools, newspapers, journals and broadcasting media. With all this available history there must indeed be some rich potential waiting to be tapped. And indeed many young creative talents keep waiting to be tapped at all levels whenever the machinery is set in motion for the full realization of our creative literary reservoir. Already signs of breakthrough were seen in other aspects of the arts, resulting in the upsurge of musical recordings, theatrical activities, and the larger percentage of novels which have been published internationally by Sierra Leonean writers during the past two decades. This hope in our prospects for a take off can only be buttressed by the fact that Sierra Leone boasts of two of the continent's most prominent critics of African Literature Profs. Eldred Jones and Eustace Palmer. Already the poet Syl Cheyney Coker has become a leading figure in African Literature by bagging two prestigious prizes in just a year after the publication of his first novel - The Last Harmattan of Alusine Dunbar which received rave reviews from some of the top media across the globe including the BBC Arts programmes Meridian and Arts and Africa. The two prizes in question here are the Robert Higham prize for a first novel; published in Britain. 3rd place and the African short list for the Commonwealth Prize.

Our present recession could be a plus for creativity for recession generally should serve as a stimulus for people to write and expiate their feelings. God knows, perhaps it is through such means that a breakthrough could be found. Experience and careful observation shows that most countries in the world have had the greatest spurt of creative explosion during crisis periods in their history. The great spurt of literature 'the Nigerian civil war gave birth to is a case in point. So it is for us to see our own economic crisis as a fuel for generating our own creativity. Though we missed exploiting amply the opportunities offered by the UNESCO cultural decade we might try now to get funding from that end as well as locally to finance publications and other literary events. All the slightest hints of promise should be amply utilised. For there are certain signs that Sierra Leone will no longer be an obscure spot in the literary world. Syl Cheney Coker has brought much attention to Sierra Leone by his literary breakthrough with his first novel The Last Harmattan of Alusine Dunbar. This is reenforced by the impact of his third volume of poems. The Blood in the the Desert's Eyes. He has now completed work on his second novel The Last Days of the Barracuda . His previous two volumes of poems are Concerto for an Exile and The Graveyard also has Teeth . This feat was only recently boldly followed with the emergence of another strident literary voice in Aminata Forna with her Booker- prize winning The Devil that Danced on the Water and her most recent Ancestor Stone

Much promise of growth also came from the large output of works of folklore put out by an Adult Education Association., The Peoples Education Association (P.E.A.) through their Songs and Stories (SAS) project. Though aimed primarily at retrieving and recording our oral lore through songs, proverbs and folktales, it has published some real creative efforts such as two plays, The Weaverbirds and The Runaway by Frederick Borbor James and a collection of stories of Brima Rogers Love without Questions.

Happily some space is now being given by some newspapers to poems and short stories. The National for instance featured regularly poems and carried a few stories which included five of mine. Through a column in the same paper I tried to redirect attention to the literary and cultural domain. A few others. The New Shaft from time to time published poems. And I have seen some stories published in the pages of. The Vision.. Other papers have received literary publications through reviews in their pages. I have acknowledged . Sam Metzger who through his We Yone newspaper reviewed my work Folktales from Freetown which was published in 1987 as part of the bicentenary celebrations of the founding of Freetown. It is hoped that this is only the beginning of a growing trend, so that when next Sierra Leone makes a literary breakthrough the local press will not remain even though innocently or silent on it whilst it receives rave reviews in the international media. The press should not preoccupy itself exclusively in painting a completely dark picture of the society when indeed there are sparks of light here and there. These should be magnified within their pages so that readers do not get drowned in depressive complacence and despair. Readers could only be galvanized into action to redeeming the fate of our country if aware of the little though enviable efforts others are making in their little corners.

The electronic revolution is also beginning to be a boon for Sierra Leonean literature as well. Quite a number of individuals as well as institutions have created internet sites which are publishing on-line the works of Sierra Leonean writers, thus giving it a much wider exposure than was ever possible.

The first and most noteworthy of these online e-journals is the Sierra Leonean Writers Series (SLWS) which was set up and launched in 2001 in Sierra Leone in Freetown by Dr Osman Mallam Sankoh. Many of its works the latest being Lucilda Hunter's novel Redemption Song are also available in printed book form. It focuses on academic, fictional, and scientific writing used in schools and colleges,promoting good quality books by Sierra Leoneans, writers of Sierra Leonean descent , and writers writing on or about Sierra Leone. The works published have local appeal and are related to the lives and experiences of Sierra Leoneans. The Mabayla Review another online journal is published four times a year by a prolific poet Gbanabom Hallowell offering a wide range of fiction including one of mine, poetry, social essays, translations, interviews, book reviews, criticism, theory alongside photographs focusing on Sierra Leone's literary tradition and issues of social justice and the writing life in general from new and established Sierra Leonean and guest writers as well as social and political commentaries by Sierra Leoneans arising out of Sierra Leonean life. The journal founded in 2006 though it seems to have suffered some setbacks since its last edition in April 2007. I was assured by Mr Hallowell that it will resume after the redesigning of the website. I do hope this is accelerated as I have a few more stories to appear there and I think it holds the greatest prospect for the growth of writing in Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone Pen is in the process of building a website sierraleonepen.org which should be expanding into publishing poetry and stories. For now the site is restricted to news items, photos and features. Perhaps the most certain promise given to not only literature but arts and culture in general is the singular commitment of government to cultural development expressed in the 1991 constitution but which is yet to be more boldly articulated in real terms with visible support for writers and other programs supportive of the growth of a luxuriant and strident literature from our shores. Now that a new government is now in place it is hoped that much interest and support wlll be coming from Government.

Arthur Edgar Smith was born, and schooled in Freetown, Sierra Leone.. He has taught English since 1977 at Prince of Wales School and, Milton Margai College of Education. He is now Senior Lecturer at Fourah Bay College where he has been lecturing English, Literature, as well as Creative Writing for the past seven years He is widely published with his writings appearing in local newspapers as well as in West Africa Magazine, Index on Censorship, Focus on Library and Information Work amongst, ChickenBones, shvoomg.com and others.

He was one of 17 international visitors who participated in a seminar on contemporary American Literature sponsored by the U.S.State Department from June to August 2006. His growing thoughts and reflections on this trip which took him to various US sights and sounds in Louisville,, San Francisco, Cincinnatti and Washington D.C. could be read at lisnews.org.

His other publications include Folktales from Freetown, Langston Hughes Life and Works Celebrating Black Dignity, and 'The Struggle of the Book'

The Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix, Arizona are located in Papago Park. The gardens are home to a large collection of desert plants. The 50 acre, 63 year old collection is one of the world's largest and contains plants that are considered to be endangered species from around the world.

Numerous educational programs are held at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix. Whether you are a preschooler or senior citizen you are bound to find a program of interest. The Desert Landscaper School is a very popular program especially for those who have just built or purchased new homes and need some help with their curb appeal. It is also appealing to those who currently work as landscapers or may be seeking employment in the landscaping field.

The Botanical Drawing courses are also popular. There are three levels of the class with the first level teaching the art of using graphite for simple drawings. The second level uses pencil. The third level combines graphite and pencil and teaches the students how to illustrate botanical concepts such as plant pollination and reproduction. Other courses offered include botanical watercolor, color theory, drawing butterflies and scientific illustration.

The Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix also has pavilions and courtyards that may be rented for weddings, social and corporate events. A Desert Sunset Ceremony will make your wedding an unforgettable event for all in attendance! Jazz in the Gardens and Music in the Gardens are also popular events. If you are feeling up to an evening stroll you will appreciate the Free Flashlight Tours.

Almost daily there are numerous field trips to the gardens. There are special field trip packages designed to please those of any age. The gardens can accommodate field trips for students from preschool to adults. There are also different themed field trips which are also open to adult groups. The garden is currently working on a field trip which is geared towards those students who are currently home schooled.

Numerous organizations offer garden memberships which range in price from $65 per year to $1250 per year. Each organization includes numerous free events in the yearly membership price. The more expensive yearly membership prices include family memberships which admit two adults and children to almost all garden events.

The Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix is open seven days a week. It is closed for the observation of the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas. From October through April the gardens are open from 8AM to 8PM. From May through September the gardens open at 7AM and remain open until 8PM. Keep in mind that some tours are not available after dark.

Admission is $10 for adults and $9 for seniors. Students from 13-18 and college students are $5 with identification. Children from 3-12 are $4 and children under 3 are free. If you are planning to be in the Phoenix area the Desert Botanical Garden is a great pastime.

I grew up in upstate New York, where the winters were long and the snow deep. Then after college, I took an opportunity to go live in Iceland for a few years, an even more extreme environment. So, for most of my life I have dealt with cold. I thought it would be a welcome change when I was offered a job in Phoenix. In my mind, I was thinking shorts, tanning, afternoons by the pool and the end to winter.

I moved in the winter and got a false impression of what living in the desert was going to be like. It was cool in the morning and comfortably warm in the afternoon. In fact, it was downright pleasant. Then the summer came rolling along and the thermometer just kept climbing ever higher. By July it was well above 100 degrees by late morning. It was so hot that I was often sent into a bit of a panic when I would go into my car and it was like 140 degrees in there. It would take several minutes for the air conditioning to start making a dent in the heat. My home has central air like most homes in the valley but it was costing an arm and a leg to keep my home cool. I am not talking a little expensive; I am talking like $600 per month. I was having trouble sleeping at night because it was so hot and when I left the air conditioning on all night I felt guilty about the expense of running the compressor so much, knowing that the power meter was just rolling and rolling. I needed to do something and fast.

My house is already fairly well insulated so what more could I do to improve its energy efficiency My answer came when I looked at the cheap mini blinds that were covering my many windows and the fact that many windows had no blinds at all. I needed to improve my insulation and decrease the heat gain that happens when the sun shines through my west-facing windows.

I did some research on the internet and looked into solar screens and insulating window blinds. I learned that you can purchase solar blinds for your windows with views and honeycomb shades, also known as cellular shades, for maximum insulation. I have two large bay windows that overlook a nice piece of desert and I didn't want to block out. So, I decided to purchase some opaque solar shades for those windows and triple cell cellular shades for all the rest. The triple cell cellular shades, so I was told, can improve the insulation properties of a window by like thirty percent. They weren't cheap though. But what the heck, I was already spending $600 per month to cool my home. These babies would pay off in no time.

For my bedroom, I purchased a blackout liner for the cellular shades. For the rest of the windows, I just bought the regular variety. I installed all of the blinds and shades myself and I noticed a difference immediately. I noticed that my air conditioner compressor was not coming on as often, I noticed that the temperature in my home stayed relatively constant, kind of like a cave. I noticed that I could leave the temperature gauge at 72 degrees instead of 65 and it felt just fine. Yes, life was looking up and my desert experience was certainly getting easier to deal with. It turns out that new window blinds were the answer to this desert dweller's prayer. Now if only I could stay indoors all summer.

Don't hesitate to get yourself some comfort if you share my experience. A good set of insulating window blinds and some solar screens can make life in the valley downright tolerable. - David Brooks

Of all the places in the world to visit, I think Australia was my favorite. I once spent a spring semester abroad there and experienced some of the memorable moments of my life. I saw the unique plants and animals every single day. With so many different activities and attractions available, you never do or see the same thing twice.

Australia is a hot spot not only for people looking for something different in a vacation but also for student wishing to study abroad Sydney Australia. Not only that, this giant island also offers so many natural wonders, local cuisine and culture that it is nearly impossible to take it all in. So I'm here to help you out with some my favorite places which you must visit if you ever plan on a study abroad in Sydney Australia trip

Sydney

Spending time abroad Sydney Australia offers an amazing experience in the way of cultural tourist attractions and students spending a school semester abroad. There is the world renowned Opera House. Don't forget to stop at the marine aquarium at Darling Harbor to be absolutely amazed with their large collection of marine wildlife.

The Pinnacles

One cannot spend a spring semester abroad without stopping to see the Pinnacles in Nambung National Park, in Western Australia. Its limestone columns of towering weathered rocks are an absolutely awesome must see. These rocks were shaped into one of a kind shapes over time by the winds and sands.

Jenolan Caves

The Jenolan Caves are a great attraction for adventurous tourists abroad in Sydney Australia. These subterranean caves are all interconnected and filled with wonderful rock formations.

Great Ocean Road

If you plan on taking a school semester abroad, be sure to take in the Great Ocean road. These rock formations are called the twelve apostles by the locals. However, only 8 out of the original twelve are left standing today.

Tasmania

No study abroad Sydney Australia trip is complete without a visit to Tasmania. Just a short flight away, this well-known prison is where British convicts used to be sent. Years later, it became even more famous because of its spectacular variety of natural wonders, flowers and animals found nowhere else in the world. Tasmania is a favorite for those craving pristine beaches, beautiful lagoons and mountains.

Magnetic Island

Magnetic Island is one of the national parks you must visit next time you travel abroad Sydney Australia. It is home to great colonies of kangaroos and koalas. Located near the town of Townsville, Queensland, and the Great Barrier Reef, Magnetic Island is famous for its great beaches.

Ayers Rocks

I'm sure you've seen and heard of Ayers Rocks. This is the biggest rock monolith in the world rising up out of the red desert of central Australia. It is thought to sacred by the aborigines.

Anne is director, student services and school semester abroad programs, for AustraLearn. Their study abroad in Sydney Australia program led to her experience growing in these studies, such as the spring semester abroad program.