Jerry Leggett (January 2007)

Carlsbad musician Jerry Leggett boarded a trailer he dubbed the "Peace Bubble" last January and set out on a nationwide tour to explore Americans' vision of peace.

Leggett was back in Carlsbad last week, relaxing after a 53,000-mile journey that included 180 stops in 12 months. He has one last performance planned for 2007 today as part of services at University Christian Church in Hillcrest.

"It's been an amazing journey," said Leggett, whose "Peace Bubble," a teardrop-shaped trailer he lived in during his trip, is under repair in Seattle for axle damage. Leggett is taking donations for the repair at his Web site, Peacebubble.org.

During his trek, Leggett interviewed people on video for their thoughts about peace and performed songs on guitar. At one stop, more than 200 people attended his performance as part of a Peacebubble festival in North Ridgeville, Ohio.

He left Carlsbad on New Year's weekend after a noontime performance off Carlsbad Boulevard with plans to play concerts in other cities six days a week, taking only Wednesdays off. He made 180 stops and played at block parties, congregations, city halls, taverns and homeless shelters.

In May, Leggett picked up a traveling companion, poet and visual artist Patsy Farrell. The two now are a couple and have been named "2008 artists in residence" at the Dayton International Peace Museum in Ohio, where they were featured in a monthlong exhibit in November. The exhibit, "I Saw the Face of Peace From an Aluminum Bubble," included footage from more than 4,800 interviews Leggett conducted and still images by Farrell.

The video interviews capture responses to questions such as, "Is peace possible?" and "What would a more peaceful world look like to you?" The videos are on Youtube.com and have logged more than 52,000 views.

Leggett said he was "extremely discouraged and felt a lot of angst" when he left on his trip in January.

"I've come to believe that peace is possible, when we want it," he said. "And I've come to see in America that there are so many peaceful places and peaceful people. I think we are lacking the will, at some level, to work within all the systems that create peace or war."

Leggett and Farrell will continue their travels in 2008 and are launching a new online project, MyPeaceSpace.org. On the site, people will register specific areas as peaceful places, which could be public spots or their own rooms. Viewers will be able to find the locations through a global online map, either through actual addresses or GPS coordinates. Some places may have "peace poles," which have the words "May peace prevail on earth" written in several different languages.

Leggett said he would like to work with anybody interested in creating a peace museum in North County.

"There's 140 museums dedicated to the military, which is fine, but only one about peace," he said.

-- Staff writer Gary Warth

Lindsay Lawlor (June 2007)

Escondido's Lindsay Lawlor, whose electronic giraffe was featured in the North County Times earlier this year, has continued to add to his creation and has more in store for his 17-foot tall robotic friend.

After returning with the giraffe from the annual Burning Man festival last summer, Lawlor added bright red, yellow, green and blue LEDs to create glowing spots on the robot's body. He also doubled its walking speed from its original half-mile an hour and rebuilt its hydraulic-control system to make it complete maneuverability.

"I don't have to get off and turn him around," he said. "He can turn on a dime. We've motivated his feet a little more with drive motors so he can actually just roll around as well as walk."

The robotic giraffe recently was featured on the Discovery Channel in Canada, and Lawlor's proudest moment may have been Dec. 1, when he rode it during the Ocean Beach Christmas Parade. Unsure whether the Escondido parade would be rained out the same day, Lawlor said he picked Ocean Beach because it is his home town.

"He went down Newport Avenue, and the crowds went ballistic," he said. "I've never been subjected to that much roaring from people. It was just amazing."

Lawlor won the top award in the best-individual entry category.

He next plans to add more artificial intelligence to the giraffe so people with wireless devices can communicate with him as he works the controls.

"The giraffe will graze on the frontiers of technology," he said.

Lawlor said several schools are interested in visits from the giraffe, and he hopes to create lessons about robotics and actual giraffes for the visits.

The giraffe's next public appearance will be 6 to 9 p.m. Jan. 12 at Ray at Night, held the second Saturday of each month in North Park, San Diego. The event is held on Ray Street, just north of University Avenue.

-- Staff writer Gary Warth

Stuart Swanson (May 2007)

After winning a national "American Idol"-style contest for comedians in May, Oceanside resident Stuart Swanson has taken a break from doing stand-up and is working on a screenplay.

"It's actually been a good thing, because I've had a chance to regroup and plan the next steps for my career in the entertainment industry," he said. "More important, the prize money allowed me to do a few things. The first thing I did was fix my $1,000 car, which now runs like a $1,200 car."

Swanson won $10,000 in the contest, which was sponsored by Famecast.com. He was one of 100 comedians in the elimination competition, which saw fans voting for their favorite performers online. Swanson said the most important thing he did with his prize money was to buy a plane ticket for his girlfriend to fly from Ontario, Canada, to Oceanside. Reunited, the couple married this year.

"I feel that by taking a break from stand-up, I've become a funnier person," he said. "It's been good to get back to my roots, back to why I started doing comedy. And I feel the stage is set for the next big step. My wife and I have been putting together a screenplay that I've had in mind for years, but have never had time to complete. It's been really exciting to finally put it together, and it will be good to see the end product when we're finished."

Swanson last headlined as a stand-up in October.

"I will get back into stand-up," he said. "I'm taking a very healthy break right now. I have to want to do it. When I started out doing stand-up, I went full blast and kind of burnt out on it."

Swanson said he has been working with San Diego County comedians John Ceccon and Zoltan Zaszas on a sketch comedy series called "The Show with Zoltan and Stu," which will be available for online viewing at Yastu.com in January.

Other local finalists in this year's Famecast contest included Mark Gonzalez of Encinitas, Aaron Hughes of La Jolla, Erik Knowles of Poway and Quartez Wynn of Oceanside.

The contest is continuing, and Wynn and Knowles have returned as contestants. Other area comedians in the new contest are San Diego residents Bill Ferg, Naveed Mahbub, Lamont Ferguson and Chris Millhouse, and Santee resident Gregor.

-- Staff writer Gary Warth

Marlise Kast (May 2007)

Ten years after working as a reporter for the Globe newspaper, San Marcos resident Marlise Kast published her memories of the job in "Tabloid Prodigy," published in 2007.

The publicity after the book's release took the first-time author by surprise. Kast was booked on more than 90 radio stations and interviewed for 40 publications.

"As a first-time author, I consider myself extremely fortunate," she said. "I have met other authors who have spent their entire writing careers trying to gain public recognition for the body of their work."

Before the work was published, Kast had booked several local appearances herself. She honored the engagements, and sometimes found herself speaking at a local Rotary club on the same week she'd appear on a national show such as "The O'Reilly Factor."

"I never imaged that 'the little surfer girl from San Diego' would be on national book tours or would be conversing with Bill O'Reilly, (talk show host) Donny Deutsch or with the anchors of CNN," Kast said. "I realized how different my life had temporarily become when I was making wardrobe changes in the car while my publicist rushed me to four TV appearances in a single day."

Kast has been kept busy as a travel writer since her book was released and has visited Columbia, Mexico, Hawaii, New York and Virginia Beach during the past year. She also has signed contracts for two more books, including a second autobiographical work about life after tabloid journalism. She said she was surprised to receive job offers to be a television producer and radio host after being interviewed about her book.

Kast said some of the biggest rewards from her book have come from readers.

"The reader responses have also meant a great deal to me, such as those telling me that 'Tabloid Prodigy' has helped them in rethinking their own priorities and purpose in life," she said.

-- Staff writer Gary Warth

Amanda Nunez (March and May 2007)

Best Teen Chef Amanda Nunez had just finished a photo shoot for Estylo magazine when we caught up with her last week.

"Today was the third shoot I've done for them -- it's for the April issue," the 18-year-old chef said from her home in Sabre Springs. "I've been coming up with recipes for them. The first shoot was in my chef coat; the second issue was for Valentine's, and this one was a picnic lunch. I had to work on the beach in Newport, and it was so cold they kept telling me to look warm."

Nunez was featured in the North County Times after she won a national competition for Best Teen Chef held May 5 by The Art Institute in Texas. That led to her job as a food columnist at the Latin entertainment and style magazine when freelance writer Eldon Turner saw her on the "Today" show last spring, after her victory.

"Right after I won, they flew me to New York," said Nunez. "They took my mom back to the hotel to pack and I didn't even go back to the hotel -- I just flew straight to New York."

In the national competition, Nunez and the other 22 high school seniors from across the country had just two hours to prepare and plate tortilla soup, a grapefruit salad, pork medallions with vegetable side, and Mexican rice.

As winner of the competition, Nunez was awarded a $250,000 scholarship at The Art Institute of her choice. With it, she began her culinary study this autumn at the Mission Valley campus, called the International Culinary school at The Art Institute.

"I think I'm more excited about cooking than ever," she said. "I'm learning about so many new ingredients and techniques, but I've still got so much more to learn. It is all so much bigger than I thought."

Nunez is also working part time at El Bizcocho at the Rancho Bernardo Inn. "I'm starting at the bottom," she said. She is a garde manger, which means she prepares and plates cold salads and appetizers. "It's amazing. I'm learning so much."

-- Staff writer Ruth Marvin Webster

Rita Sweeting (March 2007)

Rita Sweeting said she regrets not selling the russet potato she found in the shape of the Virgin Mary before it spoiled. Or at least making a clay mold of it.

"The potato lasted for eight months, and then it decayed," the Vista resident said. "It was my fault that I wouldn't let go of it to sell it for the prayer chapel."

Sweeting told North County Times readers in March of the many sightings she had had of the Virgin Mary, and how she felt called to create a prayer chapel.

Still, with or without her talisman of faith, Sweeting continues on her mission to bring prayer to others.

During the October wildfires, Sweeting and her good friend Jasmine Jones drove to Qualcomm Stadium with a large electric cross she picked up at Goodwill for $8.99. "We plugged it in and asked people if they wanted to come over and pray," recalled Sweeting, adding that a photo taken by an Associated Press photographer ran in newspapers nationally and around the world. She has written about the fires too, she said, an 18-page pamphlet that was inspired by the photo.

Sweeting and Jones have also recently opened a thrift shop and prayer garden called God's Little Garden at 1012 S. Coast Highway, Oceanside (760-512-1658). They rented the space in September, but it took months of hard work before it opened earlier this month.

"We had to do a lot of stuff, repainting and recarpeting," she said, adding that she is now turning her efforts to relandscaping the garden. "We are going to start crafts groups -- like knitting and beading -- in January," she said. "And we are going to have special potluck dinners that will cost $5, to get people together to eat and to pray."

Sweeting said she hopes the resale shop will be a spiritual refuge for the community. "Everyone who comes in leaves a prayer request," she said. "Just today a couple came and said their whole life has changed." The homeless couple, Sweeting said, came in a week earlier looking to buy a pair of shoes to outfit the man for a job interview. They returned a few days later to thank her for her prayers and to tell her the good news -- that he had landed the job.

A trained opera and jazz singer, Sweeting said she is planning to audition for the upcoming TV season of "America's Got Talent" as well as to raise money to go on a religious pilgrimage to Australia in March 2008. "I feel like Mary likes what I am doing," she said of the Virgin Mother, who has inspired her life. "People need to pray. That's what I need to do, get back into my singing, and bring people together to pray."

-- Staff writer Ruth Marvin Webster

Aimee Anaya (May 2007)

When this country's top women weightlifters step on the platform in Columbus, Ohio, at the end of next month to compete at the USA Weightlifting National Championships, Fallbrook resident Aimee Anaya will be among them.

We reported about her in May, when she took the gold in her 69 kilo, or 152-pound, division at last year's national championships in Schaumburg, Ill. She is still in the top 10 women in her division, but Anaya did not compete in the Pan American Games and world championships this summer.

Then ranked eighth, she did qualify to compete at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which took only the top four women. And in the World Championships in September, she was chosen as an alternate for the American women's team.

"I trained with the women's team at the World Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo., and they did a great job," said Anaya of the women's success. Based on the team's performance in Colorado, the American women have earned four slots for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games to be held in Beijing. Whether the American men will even earn a place to compete as a team at the Olympics is still in question, said Anaya.

"The women did really well," she said. "Melanie Roach had the best competition of her life and she did amazing and so did the rest of the team. They really pulled through for this country."

Anaya is training for the 2008 national championships in Columbus, scheduled to take place Feb. 29 to March 2. Her boyfriend, Greg Everett, is now her coach, after Anaya split with her longtime coach, Mike Burgener of Bonsall, this month.

"I'm still working out all the time," she said. "But I'm not training at Mike's anymore. Now I am going to be training with Greg. My daughter Jade's grandmother offered her garage to us, and we just put in $2,000 for Greg to build me a platform and buy the weights."

Anaya said that while she appreciates Burgener's commitment to her weightlifting career, it was time to set out on her own. "You can't be successful unless you lift for yourself," she said. "You can't do it to please someone else; you have to want it for yourself."

Based on her results at the upcoming National Championships as well as points earned over the last year, Anaya said she hopes to be one of the 30 top-ranking women and men to qualify for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials to be held May 16-17 in Atlanta.

"To be honest, 2012 is more important to me," said Anaya. "It takes a lot of years to develop the strength and the technique to be in the Olympics, and I'm not completely there yet. But that doesn't mean I'm going to give up. I'm still going to fight for a spot in Beijing."

-- Staff writer Ruth Marvin Webster

Greg Evans (2006)

San Marcos resident Greg Evans, who in 2006 brought to life the characters from his comic strip "Luann" with a musical that was produced at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, has more theater plans.

Palomar College in San Marcos is scheduled to revive the musical, "Luann: Scenes from a Teen's Life," with open auditions planned for 7 to 11 p.m. Jan. 23 and 24, he said.

"A 'Luann' TV show is still a remote possibility," Evans said. "I'm meeting with a producer next week to talk about it."

A new "Luann" cartoon collection book also will be released in the spring, he said.

-- Staff writer Gary Warth