Seen in the wild - A real Astroturfgarden and lawn

Never mow the lawn again, get yourself an astroturf garden! (and lawn). Marketplace reported today about people replacing their lawns with synthetic grass. One even created a putting green in their backyard.

And this provides me with the perfect opportunity to explain my domainname. About ten years ago, Joseph and I were walking around his apartment complex in Houston. It was one of those two-level apartment complexes with tthe stairs outside and exposed. One enterprising resident had taken advantage of the normally unused space under the stairs to reate him/herself a little garden. The resident appointed this garden with a 4'x10' patch of astroturf, three potted synthetic plants at one end, and two plastic lawn chairs at the other end. Joe stopped and exclaimed "It's an astroturf garden!"

And that is how the domain name was born. The sad part is that since I created the domain, I learned about the term Astroturfing only a couple years ago. When I wrote to PJ over at Groklaw, she hesitantly responded, commenting on the domain name. But to me, it is just a funny name that reminds me of people looking for a bit of urban gardening in a heat-soaked and paved-over city.

Good times.