The Astrology Center of America, 207 Victory Lane, Bel Air, MD 21014
Tel: 410-638-7761; Toll-free (orders only): 800-475-2272
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The Ventura Store

August 1993-December 1997


Ventura Santa Fe No. 1 Santa Fe No. 2 New York No. 1 New York No. 2

This was where things started. I was lured from Brooklyn to Ventura for one reason but it wasn't there by the time I arrived. Not wishing to loose face by returning empty-handed, we set up this store on a dare.

The woman on the left, who will remain nameless, was my original business partner. Next to her is her best friend. The picture shows our second Christmas, which would be December, 1994. When she ended the partnership she objected to this picture being shown, but that was many years ago, and I have (July, 2007) put it back on line. There are pictures without these two, but no idea what became of them.

The first three pictures are of the front of the store. A former Ventura mayor once used this building as his office. The front section, where we displayed books, was the reception area, which will give you an idea how big it was. Above, the front door. It faced south. Stand in the doorway, peer over the shrub, the Pacific was visible in the distance. The wind chimes rang only during earthquakes & the bigger aftershocks, such as those after the big one in January, 1994.

The front window.

The more spacious back room, where I had my office.

My desk. Before I got the scanner. A giant picure of Baba on the north wall.

There's exterior pictures packed away somewhere.

Neighbors: The corner of north Fir at Main in Ventura started life as a two story house with partial basement. Over the better part of a century various additions were made to the back, the basement was exposed to create a new ground floor in front, my store, facing Fir, was tacked on as an afterthought & a whole new residence was stuck on the far back corner.

Just out my office windows (the frosted ones): Lucy In the Sky, a children's haircutter. Lucy, daughter of the landlord, was one of the rare people who remain a child forever. The ramble of rooms that made up her store were decorated with a childish whimsy. Act like a child, she would cut anyone's hair, including mine. For a time she had a bubble machine outside her front door, bubbles used to float across my office. Outside my front door, on the other side of the shrub, was John's hair salon, with a Dutch door. Dutch doors have a wonderful ability to encourage neighborliness, it's amazing they've never caught on in this country. John's nail specialist was Susan. Her then-husband ran my first webserver, WestNet, of Santa Barbara. The two of them lived directly over John's shop, I used to see them bound up the stairs outside my store a dozen times a day. Next to John's hair salon was Edith's Daughter, a resale clothing boutique, run by Marsha, Edith's daughter. Next to Edith, in the very front, an old-time country doctor & below him, in the former basement, an ill-fated flower shop. Across the street on the corner, Ema, the Bosnian Herbalist. She sells herbal tea preparations that do wonders. See her website: Ema's Herbs.

Men are just grown up little boys, we never really get over our "first", whatever it was. Life in Ventura was a community. I will always miss my neighbors & this store, even though it was far too small by the time I left for Santa Fe on January 1, 1998.

Ventura Santa Fe No. 1 Santa Fe No. 2 New York No. 1 New York No. 2


The Astrology Center of America

207 Victory Lane, Bel Air, MD 21014
Tel: 410-638-7761; Toll-free (orders only): 800-475-2272

Home Author Index Title Index Subject Index Vedic Books Tarot E-Mail:


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