Melanie Moorehead:  

I live in West Los Angeles near UCLA. I love the weather here and the world class culture - we get shows straight from Broadway in New York, and we have a top symphony and opera and many small theaters. I also love taking classes via UCLA extension. Traffic? Yeach. But I run my own business from my home office so I don't have a commute. My business is something I never would have dreamed I'd be doing but the money is very good and my retirement savings were pretty much zilch after I worked in various community service programs that didn't provide retirement benefits. I'm currently writing 2 books - one based on my experience in the Peace Corps in Somalia (northeast Africa) and one based on a relationship I had with an Egyptian man, which brought me into extensive contact with Israelis, Palestinians and others from the Middle East concerned about a solution to the Middle East conflict. When my parents died in 2003 (Mom) and 2004 (Dad), I spent a year or so in Stockton caring for Dad and during that time I worked in the peace and justice movement. Some of the things I did that year were to set up some demonstrations against the invasion of Iraq which led to an extension of citizen rights for Stockton residents, and to write up interviews for a local paper. I focused on Stockton or San Joaquin valley citizens working for various justice-related issues like farm worker rights and Planned Parenthood. I also co-hosted a local cable TV ta...Expand for more