My BluHeaven

A Moment of Silence Please

2010-02-16T11:30:00.000-08:00

Our dear Fishy has passed away. After being rescued from an evil craft store he lived a long happy life with us in a beautifully planted tank. We weren't sure how old he was, but a good guess would be at least 2.5 if not 3 years. Rest in peace Fishy, we will miss you. :(

Live Unplanned: Redux

2009-12-21T15:00:00.000-08:00

Well it's been almost a year now. January 29th I was put on an antibiotic and had a severe reaction to it. Everything went downhill from there. Panic attacks, depression, severe pelvic pain, bladder irritation and pain. No one could find a reason, no one could find anything wrong. Test after test, hospital trip after trip, 8 ER visits, 2 urologists and 3 months later I was in surgery and woke up to the news that I had Interstitial Cystitis. It is incurable, and mostly untreatable. It takes months to a year or more for medications to start working, if they work at all. My life, in ruins. No more could I have the foods and drinks I enjoyed. No more could I go on long photo hikes with my now husband. No more could I take long rides in the car. No more could I work a job. Ruins.

It's been a very long and hard road and while it's better, there is still no end in sight, no end to the suffering. Sometimes I feel ok, almost normal. Then some days I am in pain and some days I can barely do anything from fatigue and lack of energy. I cope though. I try to live, It's all I can do.

Life, planned.

2009-11-14T14:01:00.000-08:00

I'll start with the planned part. :) On July 26th 2009 overlooking a foggy pacific ocean in Newport Oregon, John and I were wed. No one noticed the weather though. It was a perfect day spent with close friends and family. The three days of beautiful sunshine that followed for our honeymoon trip down the coast just made it all the better. The wedding was held at Stone Crest Cellar Bed and Breakfast who did a wonderful job with all the planning, decorations and food. I'm glad the stress leading up to that day is gone, but I do wish that week could have lasted much longer and that more time could have been spent with everyone. Perhaps we'll plan an anniversary bash next year there on the coast.

Life, unplanned.

2009-11-11T17:06:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's been a very very long time. Not always a good time either. I won't get into details in this post, but some bad things have happened health wise and some great things have happened such as the wedding! I'm going to try to get back into the blogging. Right now though I've spent too much time at the computer today already. I'll post details later. Just know this past year has not been what I wanted, not been what I planned for, but instead has been both a nightmare and yet everything I could have hoped for at the same time.

The Photos Say It All :)

2008-10-25T08:58:00.000-07:00

So I'll let them do the talking. Obviously I said yes :)

How Time (And my Sandwich) Flies!

2008-08-25T17:22:00.000-07:00

Saturday was my one year anniversary of moving to Portland. We can't believe it's been a year already! I know it's cliche but time really does fly when you are having fun. Well Saturday we had quite a bit of fun. The day started with flowers (ftw!) and a card that read 'Happy one year of adventures'! After situating those in a vase we headed out for Mount St. Helens. The goal was adventure, and the scenic twisties of the Windy Ridge drive. Despite a road closure cutting the drive off sooner than we'd hoped, it turned out to be a fantastic trip. We mostly went for the roads, but we did make a few stops along the way for pictures and lunch.

Our first stop was the volcano overlook at Bear Meadow where we shared a picnic lunch; just us... and 10 hungry grey jays. I had packed cracker crumbs for them but they seemed to have other ideas. I made it halfway through my sandwich before they decided it looked tastier than crackers. Every other time I took a bite a bird would swoop down, brace it's little feet on my hand and face, and snatch a piece of crust away. I finally gave up and let them pick at the last bit of bread. I put out more crumbs for them and tried to eat my apple only to have one little jay abandon the crackers, hop over to me and then up onto my apple. It couldn't quite figure out what to do with it though so it ended up just perched there. Needless to say, I didn't eat that part.

After lunch we drove down to Iron Creek Falls where I had a losing battle with gravity, and fell down a small embankment. It didn't do too much damage, just a little bit of hurt pride as I had a bit of an audience. To the amusement of some though, I gave them a shrug and a thumbs-up from the spot on the ground where I had so inelegantly landed. We spent time taking photos there at the falls before heading back in and ending the day with dinner on the river at McMenamins on the Columbia in Vancouver. Photos from the trip are on my fotki!

Triple D Goodness

2008-08-20T14:06:00.000-07:00

No trips this past weekend as Portland has reverted back to winter weather mode (I'm wearing a sweatshirt and watching it rain as I type this). We did manage to hit the Pearl District and enjoy some fantastic food though. Triple D (Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Network) is one of our new favorite shows. The only bad thing about watching it is, well, it makes me unbelievably hungry and a majority of the places are very far away. It also doesn't help that we watch at night before bed so I can't get any food at all! Guy did visit one spot here in Portland though so we headed there on Saturday. Let me tell you... the Byways Cafe has some of THE best french toast and pancakes I have ever had the pleasure of tasting, and I've had a lot of french toast and pancakes! John got the blue corn pancakes and I got Amaretto french toast, both slathered with their special honey pecan butter and pure organic maple syrup. The food was so good that we both ate well beyond the point of being too full to eat anymore. We are making a second trip this weekend to try the corn beef hash and fresh made desserts (also featured on the show). Weather is supposed to improve this weekend so we've rescheduled a drive/hike for then. Watch for a trip post and pictures!

What a Year!

2008-08-11T13:09:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted. Ok so it's been a very very long time, but we've been busy! The year has been filled with all kinds of adventure and fun. We celebrated our one year anniversary in June and here in a couple of weeks it will be one full year in Portland. There is too much to put into one post so here is a link to my Fotki, where you can see photos from all our trips.

So, this past weekend was the Oregon International Airshow. I'd never actually been to an airshow so we took a trip down Sunday afternoon, just in time for all the really cool demonstrations. We arrived in the middle of the F-16 demo, just as a P-51 was joining it for the heritage flight. Afterwards we enjoyed several aerobatics teams, a model plane aerobatics demo, the Redbull MiG, an F/A-18 flight, the National Guard Jetcar, and the US Patriots flight, during which the above photo was taken. :) We didn't take any photos really, save for that one, and I must say it is my favorite shot of all so far. That one will be hard to beat, but we'll try anyway! :)

Fall Arrives

2007-09-28T10:59:00.000-07:00

It's a gorgeous day here in Oregon. Overnight showers gave way to beautiful blue sky and crisp cool air. The trees are putting on their fall dresses of red and yellow. It's been a while since I posted anything. First stage of the move went well. We had a stunning drive up through New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. I-70 between Denver and Grand Junction is especially beautiful, worth the trip just to drive through Glenwood Canyon. The cut up to Vernal and the Flaming Gorge was also well worth the extra miles. The TT mostly survived intact considering it was carrying two people and a good chunk of my belongings. It had a small overheating problem while climbing some steep curves but that was fixed later with a new thermostat. I absolutely love living here and I've never been happier in my life than I am right now. I have a feeling things will only ever get better.

Chaos!

2007-08-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

This is sitting next to me in the office. There are 18 boxes there, although it doesn't really look like much. I didn't really have much to pack. Every time I get the last box taped up though I find something I forgot and have to start a new box and find things to fill it. Tomorrow is the last day I have to really work on getting things done and I really only have that afternoon; moving day is creeping up fast! I think this is the most fun I've had packing though. Usually it's something you dread, packing for a move, but it has actually been quite fulfilling and it feels good to get things packed. Next task, get them all localized into one spot (not the office) for the mover(s).

PDX or Bust!

2007-07-15T15:54:00.000-07:00

I'm moving to Portland! That break I talked about? The above photo explains it all. Love of my life. Yup. I'll still be here for another month due to work (on both our sides), but after that it's goodbye OK and hello OR. No doubts, no regrets, no fear; just a clear head, a heart and soul full of love and a spirit ready for adventure.

Broken

2007-07-02T13:08:00.000-07:00

Something started back in May, a little shift that made a hairline fracture through my so called life. June though, June blew it wide open. I am broken and broken never felt so good. I have never felt so full of passion and life and love. In being broken I have never felt so complete and so much myself. I cannot go back to that life now. I cherish this new too much and with that I refuse to be put back together.

Don't Point at Buffalo (and other life lessons)

2007-05-28T07:09:00.000-07:00

Last week was the best week I've had this past year. John arrived Monday afternoon and we spent quite a bit of time just hanging out, laughing and catching up with old times. Wednesday I took him out to Wichita wildlife refuge for a day of fun hiking, driving, picture taking and good food. We learned that buffalo do not like it if you point at them, Holy Cities can be creepy, and fried peaches are pretty good. Thursday wasn't near as much fun though; John continued on with his trip and I went back to work.

This is where we get to the 'deep thoughts'.

His visit has me at a realization, or really more like a remembrance. There is nothing better in life than spending time with a great friend, especially when that great friend shares so many common interests with you. I say a remembrance as this is something I already knew, but with so many friends scattered across the country and only a handful I consider really great friends, I tend to forget what it's like. I also didn't realize how much I want that contact until it's there and gone again. Here I always thought being the loner was just fine by me.

John, you're right. I think I need to get out of this town. Either that or everyone else needs to move closer. :)

Early Summer Fun

2007-04-13T06:18:00.000-07:00

It's going to be such an awesome summer this year! On the 21st I get to go shooting with some good friends and the OLP photographers at Wichita MWR. It will be my first real shoot with the new IR camera. There is a Bluegrass Festival from the 26th to the 28th and a friend from highschool will be there performing. I haven't seen him in years so I hope I get a chance to at least say hi. May is my birthday at the beginning of the month, and a really good friend from Oregon will be on a road trip and hopefully stopping in for a few days at the end of the month. He likes photography too and I want to tow him around to all the scenic parks and just hang out and have fun. June brings TT-West 07 and a 2000 mile drive to Ashland Oregon for a great weekend filled with amazing drives and some of the best friends I've ever known. Life is good. :)

Sucked In By A Black Hole

2007-04-04T14:01:00.000-07:00

A little known fact about me: I do love my music. Not only music but the gear used to play it. I've a love affair with high-end audio. Like any good audiophile I strive for that 'absolute sound' reproduction that is musical and involving, dimensional, dynamic and as close to life as possible. Like a good many audiophiles I know this sometimes involves a tweak here and there. I'll admit a good many tweaks and gimmicks are just that, and don't provide much of anything for your money spent (except maybe a lighter wallet). I just found something that is the exact opposite though.

After a glowing review from an acquaintance online I gave in and picked up a Black Hole CD mat from Herbie's Audio Lab. The cost? $4.50 for the mat and $.50 for a little case plus priority shipping for a total of less than $10.00. The performance was astounding. It cleaned up some upper midrange/lower treble glare and beefed up the thin bass on some discs. It also really brought out previously veiled micro-dynamics. Imaging on good discs is downright eerie in it's 3-dimensionality. I did what could be called the audio version of a double take on more than one occasion. My so-so discs now sound more like my great discs did before the mat, and my really bad discs are at least now listenable if not somewhat enjoyable.

The price to performance ratio for the Black Hole is off the charts. I'll probably buy a few to leave permanently on my favorite discs, and keep a couple more for swapping between less listened to CDs. It would be inexpensive enough to do. Herbie's Audio Lab Black Hole: Five stars and two thumbs up from me.

IR Fun!

2007-03-28T07:11:00.000-07:00

Well it's been really cloudy and wet lately; not good for IR shooting. I did manage to get out one day after work before the storms rolled in. The camera works beautifully as far as what it was designed to do. I had this one set up for use with the canon EF-S 10-22mm exclusively. It still works great with other lenses; they just take a bit of fiddling with the focus. I can't tell you how much nicer it is to be able to just point and shoot hand held instead of fiddling with three stacked filters and constant tripod use. Look for new 2007 galleries in My Photos soon. Here is a sample shot for now. :)

Spring Cleaning

2007-03-27T13:29:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again. Time to swap the summer shoes on and then break out the bucket of detailing products, sponges, towels and the buffer and make up for the neglect of winter. It took me three days to get the TT into summer shape, but then I'm a bit obsessive. I think the results speak for themselves though (too bad the photos just don't do it justice).

This was also one of those years that called for fresh microfiber towels and a restock on alot of supplies. I get my microfibers from Pakshak in Hawaii. They are top quality towels and you get top quality service. Plus they are on sale right now! You can find the pakshak website here. For 'wax' I use Zaino. Zaino can be as intensive or as easy as you'd like to make it, and I always make it intensive this first detail of the year. The car was polished with Z-PC and is now sporting one coat of Z-AIO, two coats of Z5pro w/ZFX, one coat of Z2 pro w/ZFX, and two coats of Z-CS, all with a Z6 wipe down in between and a final topper of Z8 grand finale spray. It doesn't take all that product to look great though, thats what I love about Zaino. One could just apply one coat of Z-CS and have an amazing deep shine. Z-CS is easy because you just spray it on, rub it around evenly, and don't buff it off just walk away; which is exactly what I'll be doing the rest of the year.

New CamIRa On The Way

2007-02-21T13:48:00.000-08:00

I have a new (to me) Canon Digital Rebel on the way. It will be sent to MaxMax for their infrared conversion and I will have two Rebels, a regular color 300D, and a dedicated infrared 300D-IR! I love shooting IR and for years now I've been using my trusty Sony F717 in nightshot mode with stacks of filters. The resolution isn't the greatest and the nightshot programing is very limiting, but it's worked well for me. Now I'll be able to use any lens, any shutter speed, f-stop, or ISO, and I'll be able to shoot handheld instead of always having to use a tripod or brace the camera on a rock. I'll get images with more detail and be able to print larger too. I can't wait to get out and go shooting this spring/summer. Look for me shooting IR images at TT-West this year! *Excited*

The Blues

2007-02-12T14:14:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you just get the blues, ya know? Maybe it's the weather. Sunny days have been few and far between and the constant damp and dreary cold and overcast skies drags me down. My faithful reader(s) from the NW know what I'm talking about. It seems if I'm not at work I'm cooped up inside the house because of the weather. Thank the lord for good books and music to keep me somewhat sane, though I've now read several books two or three times and I'm starting to wear out my favorite CDs. The knowledge that spring is just around the corner buoys my spirits though, and I'm thankful that this is Oklahoma and not a more northerly state.

Happy Belated Holidays

2006-12-30T05:41:00.000-08:00

So I'm a bit late for Christmas... but at least I made it in time for new years! It's been a very odd year, and I think back and remember that alot of the events I'm thinking of actually happened in 2005! Where in the hell did the year go??? I don't know. I'll try to make the time for a Christmas post later on and then perhaps a year in review, although there isn't much to talk about. Till then!

Happy Thanksgiving All!

2006-11-23T13:22:00.000-08:00

Well the turkey feast has been prepared and enjoyed and I'm just finishing off a slice of pumpkin pie and a cup of coffee. I'm thankful this day, as I am everyday, for being blessed with a wonderfully loving and supportive family, friends I love, a job I enjoy, and good health among other things. Hope everyone else had a great holiday as well! Cheers!

I <3 Cheese!

2006-10-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

Cheese is one of the best foods evar! I just finished off a stick of cheddar with chipotle peppers.

Snack Addiction

2006-10-02T14:05:00.000-07:00

I have a new snack addiction, and it's healthy! My aunt came to visit one week and came back from the grocery store with several cans of Garbanzo beans aka Chickpeas. I would have never thought that chickpeas would be a decent snack or even taste good... but just drain the can, put a cup or so in a bowl and season to taste ( I like a little salt and pepper) then enjoy! They taste great, they are good for you, and you can also use them in salads and lots of other dishes. I could very likely eat an entire can by myself. Carefull of the brand you buy. I like Bush's Best brand (in the blue can) because they are great quality and size and in a light juice that drains off easily and doesn't affect the taste. We tried some off brand in a red and black can once and had to toss them out. They were very small and were packed in a thick jelly that tasted funny.

Guilty Pleasures

2006-08-17T14:34:00.000-07:00

Do you have one of those secret guilty pleasures? You know, the ones you don't tell anyone about because you think you'd be embarrased? Like (guys) getting an occasional facial, or eating pineapple and mayo sandwiches, or maybe you (ladies) think Will Ferrell is cute. Well mine is bluegrass/folk music. Yup. I love Bela Fleck, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Nickel Creek... in fact I'm going to the OIBF (thats oklahoma international bluegrass festival) this October. I found an old highschool friend is a member of III Generation Bluegrass Band and they will be playing at OIBF along with my neighbor, whos a member of a little 'garage' band. So there you have it! I love bluegrass! So what's YOUR guilty pleasure?

Beary Cool

2006-08-06T10:51:00.000-07:00

Here's something for the wildlife lovers, National Geographic's wild grizzly cam. I'm watching 5 bears fishing in the falls right now. The best time to watch is from 1 to 5pm Alaska time, when someone from the Pratt Museum will maneuver the camera.

Internet Orders Gone Wrong

2006-07-31T10:16:00.000-07:00

I ordered some Audi swag from a certain dealership in Fairfield CT back on July 2nd. Here it is almost one month later and I have yet to see my order. When I placed the order it showed both items as available on the website, so why have I not received anything? After multiple failed attempts to reach someone via both phone and email I finally got a reply back on the 20th letting me know that there was a problem with my order, one of the items had been discontinued long ago. WTF! Why do you still have it available on your website then? And why has it taken so long to tell me this? If I had never said a word about it, would you have just kept my money and quietly forgotten about where it came from? In the email I finally got they asked if I would like to pick a replacement item of the same price, so I did and emailed them back. That was over a week ago and guess what? Nadda, nothing, zip! No reply back, no merchandise... I might as well just take money from the ATM and light it on fire. I just sent another email requesting that my order either be shipped or my money returned. I have a feeling that I will receive neither though, not without a fight of some sorts.

What A Month

2006-07-27T17:25:00.000-07:00

This month has been a month of grief for so many people I know. I've lost my Great Grandmother and several friends have lost Grandparents and Fathers and Mothers. This morning my sister told me her husband was rushed to the emergency room last night with a severe asthma attack and almost died because both his lungs had closed up. We spent time at the hospital with them after lunch and he's doing better. Then not even an hour ago we got a phone call from my Grandmother, my cousin was just killed in a car accident. She wasn't much older than me... maybe 33 or 34. Sigh... *moment of silence*

Blah

2006-07-25T11:43:00.000-07:00

For those few who follow my blog, I'm sorry there hasn't been any new content lately. I'm not sure if it's the heat here or what but I've just been BLAH. There's just not much going on and what little that has happened I just can't seem to get the motivation to post anything about it. Keep checking back though, eventually I'll get out of my slump. Dani

Ouch....

2006-07-19T14:14:00.000-07:00

Today I did something painfully brilliant *sarcasm*... I was attempting to pry the basket out of the pool skimmer (the handle is broken off)with a somewhat rusty screwdriver when it slipped, stabbed into my thumb and sliced it wide open. It didn't really hurt, but it was a nasty jagged slice, and I hadn't had a tetanus shot in... errr.... uhmmm... well lets just say it's been well over 10 years. After much washing and sanitizing with wound wash, alcohol and peroxide I went to the Dr's office and waited around 5 minutes to get jabbed with a needle and shot up with tetanus booster. Thirty-nine bucks and a sore arm later I am now free to stab myself with rusty objects for another 10 years. Now to go get that skimmer basket out! Where did I put that screwdriver?

;)

ZOMG! Topless Sandals!

2006-07-15T11:01:00.000-07:00

So, my sister brought these over cause they were just so damned funny and we got this bright idea that someone should actually try them. Naturally I volunteered, not only that, but I thought it would be a laughing riot if I modeled them and put them online for everyone else's amusement! What you are looking at are basically flipflops with no straps... they have a sticky stuff on them and that's what keeps them on your feet. We've been practically rolling on the floor cause they just look so damned hilarious. Ok I'm going to go take these things off, I hope everyone got a good laugh. ;)

Adopt A Pet

2006-07-14T20:47:00.000-07:00

Meet Isis, my virtual kitten. I don't know what it is about playing around with these, but they seem to be great stress relievers; kinda like real pets but without all the food and vet bills and shedding. Want your own virtual pet? just follow the link. Bunnyhero labs has several different virtual animals to choose from.

A Get Well Soon Wish

2006-07-13T18:38:00.000-07:00

I just want to take the time to send best wishes and a big get well soon to one of my best best friends, Brandi. She's been through a lot these past few months and tomorrow morning is having emergency surgery. Heres to a fast recovery! *Hugs*

One Of My Favorite Blogs

2006-07-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

Everyday I stop by Gary Fong's blog. Gary is a wedding photographer, entrepreneur, inventor, and just an all around fun and crazy guy. You don't have to be a photographer to enjoy his blog; which covers everything from the misadventures of him and his friends to real estate to random thoughts and odd things he finds funny. That is why I like it so much, you never know what you will find! Be sure to check out his video from the 4th of July fireworks celebration. It's a hoot.

What's Up With The Picasa Link?

2006-07-08T07:28:00.000-07:00

You are probably wondering why a lot of my blog entries are starting to have this little button, that links to Picasa, at the end. Well there is a perfectly good explanation for that; I'm blogging direct from Picasa! If you don't know what Picasa is, it's Google's photo organizer.

For years I've shunned any type of organizational program after trying one (that shall remain unnamed) that came as part of another program. It was unbelievably slow, kept crashing, and it would 'adjust' the levels and contrast of the photo thumbnails and views automatically (which could not be turned off) so what I looked at was never representative of what I'd saved. For over three years now I've been using nothing more than window's explorer and 'my pictures'. I thought my folder layouts worked great..... yeah. Well things were way out of control, as they naturally would when you have over 4000 images. I had duplicate folders, images that should have gone in a different folder, images that weren't filed in any specific folder, unprocessed images hidden deep in the folder hierarchy, and I could never find a specific image I wanted unless I'd just recently taken it. I was about to start screaming and pulling my hair out. So I decided to try something different... I pulled all my images into one place and deleted all my folders. Then I re-organized by year and month. Cleaner yes, but now I had no clue where anything was. Cue screaming and hair pulling again. Enter Picasa.

Picasa is free from Google. You just download it and install it and it searches your computer for images and organizes them by year. It's surprisingly fast with jpegs and tifs, large RAW files slow it down a bit. You can specify what image file types you want it to find though, I deselected RAW, and you can specify what folders you want it to search. I told it to search just 'my pictures' but not the folder of unprocessed images. It displays things beautifully, it's quick and easy to scroll through folders, and it has a lot of really nice features. One of those is labels.

If you have a lot of images that are different, labeling is a bit time consuming, but it's worth it in the end. A label is like a tag or keyword and it organizes the images by label, within a separate section of Picasa. The labels are searchable and you can assign multiple labels to pics. Say I do a search for 'waterfalls', Picasa will bring up all the waterfall images, in the menu bar to the left they are organized by year and label, and also by year and folder on disk So if I want waterfalls taken in Canada, I just click on the Canada label to the left and there it is. Alternately I can enter waterfalls + candada in the search bar.

You can also do some minor editing to your images such as cropping, red eye, levels, contrast and special effects such as sepia and B&W. It does not change the original image on your hard drive, but if you like the changes you can export them and save it as a new image. My favorite is the filtered B&W, where you can do a B&W conversion based on different color channels. Red, blue or green channel will always give you a different B&W tonality, and for each photo one may look much better than the others. Picasa makes it easy to observe these differences to find the one that works best.

One of my favorite features though , has to be the 'blog this' button. If you use Google's Blogger for your blog, just select an image and click the button and it opens up a posting window, image already inserted. Type out your blog and hit publish and there you go. There are also buttons for printing and emailing, and ones that makes collages, slideshows and burn gift CDs. Other things I love about Picasa? I can send images directly to photoshop, or if I need to go from an image in Picasa to it's exact location on the hard drive, I just hit ctrl-enter and Picasa opens up window's explorer and takes me directly to my image. You'll also find images you completely forgot about. I had a friend download it last night and he did a search by file name and found he had two images by that name, the one he was looking for that was taken recently, and another taken three years ago!

Ok I apologize for the long rambling. If you are still using windows explorer in an attempt to organize a large amount of photos, give Picasa or any photo organization program a try, there are several out there. You'll have fewer headaches, I know I sure do!

Cioccolato

2006-07-07T13:13:00.000-07:00

Cioccolato; it's Italian for chocolate, and right now I have gone to chocolate heaven. After reading several articles touting it as the 'world's best chocolate' I absolutely had to try some of Amedei of Tuscany's chocolates. So I ordered a sampling of limited edition napolitains: award winning Porcelana and Chuao, their signature Toscano Black, I Cru sampler and a small bar each of Toscano Blond and Toscano Red. Just like coffee or tea, each cocoa type or region has distinct and unique flavors; plum and red fruits for the Chuao, delicate toasted almond for the Porcelana, a slight and creamy toasted hazelnut for Madagascar Cru. Pricey maybe, but this isn't a Hershey's bar, and it is ALOT of chocolate. I think for something purchased just once in a lifetime or even once every year or two, it's worth the indulgence for such a delicacy. Now I need to find some place cool to store them so I can stretch the goodness over a few months, otherwise I'll be in a permanent chocolate coma. :)

Corndog

2006-07-06T17:04:00.000-07:00

People aren't the only ones to enjoy a good 4th of July BBQ celebration. Chinese Crested hairless, Shane, enjoys one of his most favorite foods, corn on the cob. He knows how to eat by pulling the kernels off in perfect little rows; most dogs can't figure it out and just gnaw at the cob. Incidentally, Shane is also a master of eating off of spoons and forks.

A Perfect Night

2006-07-06T16:58:00.000-07:00

It turns out we weren't doomed after all, because the skies cleared and the fireworks mostly went off without a hitch. Another great show this year all things considered. I went to my usual secret spot, not even three blocks from the show, and enjoyed being the only one there. I hope everyone else enjoyed their fireworks as much as I did.

DOOMED!!

2006-07-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

This is not looking good for the fireworks display. I was hoping to set up in my favorite spot and get some great pictures like I did last year, but the weather just is not cooperating. Maybe it will clear up by tonight, otherwise I think fireworks will be a no go! :(

Happy 4th Of July!

2006-07-04T12:19:00.000-07:00

Heres wishing everyone a fun and safe July 4th celebration!!

A Bit Of Summer Fun

2006-07-03T15:42:00.000-07:00

Some dogs just love water, as is the case with these two. Nothing would keep them from the pool! The Aussie is completely obsessed with tennis balls (or any ball for that matter) and would not give up swimming after the ball. If no one threw the ball for her.. she'd whine and bark until someone did, and if that didn't work she'd drop it in the water herself. The pup is still a bit shy about swimming but she's starting to get the hang of it. Thankfully the pool is fenced off, so no worries about unsupervised swimming. I foresee a dog hair filled pool most of the summer!

Anti What Kind Of Powder??

2006-06-29T20:33:00.000-07:00

A while back I went shopping for bird seed and flowers with my mom. As we are wheeling into the checkout lane, I hear her call me over as she points at something. I notice then that she's on her cell phone and she's talking rather loud. That's when I hear her say it... 'OMG you have to see this stuff, it says Anti Monkey Butt Powder!!!' (laughs really loud.. people are now staring) ; oh boy. I find she is talking to her sister and they are plotting to buy a bottle of this stuff to send to her sister's husband as a gag gift. She then starts reading the bottle out loud; I slink away and end up on the aisle with bug spray. Long story short, she finally gets off the phone and people finally stop staring and whispering amongst themselves and we finally check out and leave, bottle of monkey butt in hand. I have to admit though, it is pretty damn funny; marketing genius even because if people don't need it for whatever it is supposed to do (anti-chaffing it says), a good few will probably buy a bottle anyways just for the laughs. I found several friends had seen it and purchased as gag gifts already. They even have a website. I hope the recipient of this bottle enjoys it, whether it be put to it's actual use, or just enjoyed for a good laugh. :)

A Different Kind Of Moo

2006-06-28T20:56:00.000-07:00

Today I made a road trip to Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge and I took the camera along. The trip wasn't specifically for pictures (early afternoon sun... ugggg) but you never know what opportunity will present itself. I checked out every road in the first section of the park and came across a group of longhorn cattle in a lake parking lot; they had a calf! At first he (she?) hid amongst the brush but then soon took notice of the camera's shutter noise and came to have a look. Such a cutie! It is somewhat unnerving, sitting there amidst 1000+lb animals, clicking away with a camera, but it makes for great photos.

For Want Of A Road

2006-06-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

It doesn't matter where it leads to, I just want a nice driving road. Make it a road with smooth unflawed pavement, wide lanes, beautiful scenery, and most importantly of all, curves... lots and lots of curves. I want tight, banked, off-camber curves, S-curves, long and fast sweepers, hairpins and loops and I want them with a decently high (but safe) speed limit and no pokey traffic! Is that too much to ask? Apparently it is in Oklahoma, land of endless and perfectly straight pavement. There are very few decent drives here, and the ones that do exist take all day (of driving on long straight roads) just to get to. Talimena Skyway over in the south eastern side of the state comes to mind. Even the great Talimena though, does not compare to what was described above. I've driven those dreams before... TN 129 aka the Tail of the Dragon at Deal's Gap, the beautiful scenic roads that wind through Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and the Ouchita's in Arkansas; I hear Oregon has some absolutely fantastic roads as well, though I have not been there... yet. I want a road like that, right here; no, I need a road like that! I feel like a fish out of water with all this straight pavement around, almost like a part of my soul is missing. I suppose I shall be kept wanting though, for the time being.

The MOO Sandwich

2006-06-24T13:26:00.000-07:00

MOO = Mayo on the outside. Trust me on this now, it's fantastic. You might think 'Mayo on the outside of the bread... Isn't that a bit messy?' Well... yeah I suppose it could be, which is why things get toasted first, it makes a toasted mayo glaze on the outside of the sandwich.

Here's how to make a sandwich the MOO way! Preheat the oven to 425, take out two pieces of bread and slap some mayo on one side and put them on a baking sheet mayo side up. Toast for 7 minutes then remove from oven and flip the bread mayo side down. Add your sandwich meats, cheeses and spreads (ie salsa, guacamole, BBQ or grainy mustard) and then toast for another 6-7 minutes. If you are adding bacon, pre-cook it first.

When it's done toasting, just add your lettuce, tomato, salt and pepper and top with the 2nd piece of bread, mayo side up! Enjoy! The mayo makes a tasty glaze on the outside of the sandwich.

You can also add the lettuce and tomato or other veggies (like bell pepper or onions) with the meat and cheese. If you take this route then things are made slightly different. Instead of toasting one side of the bread and then adding toppings and toasting open faced, you toast it as a completed sandwich. Put your first slice of bread mayo side down, add all your sandwich toppings, don't leave anything out! Top with the second slice of bread, mayo side up. Toast at 425 for 6-7 minutes, carefully flip the sandwich over and repeat.

Be adventurous with the sandwich combinations, and layer it up thick! Some favorites are smoke turkey with sharp cheddar, BBQ sauce and grainy mustard; BLTs; turkey layered with pepper jack, salsa, guacamole, bacon, lettuce and tomato; ham, turkey, and bacon layered with swiss, cheddar and provolone, lettuce and tomato; roast beef with provolone, swiss, onions and bell peppers; or for a breakfast treat try it with thick sliced breakfast ham, cheddar, bacon, and scrambled eggs.

The Midnight Gardner

2006-06-22T16:06:00.000-07:00

So, we have this long narrow flowerbed up against a brick wall in the backyard. It ends at a small concrete patio on one end, with a gate that gives access to the wooded hill behind the house, and from the gate a wood privacy fence runs down the side of the yard up to the front. The other side of the bed runs into a fence that separates the yard from the pool area, and across the yard to the front is, of course, the house. The bottom of the gate has heavy gauge wire mesh to keep pets in, and wildlife out; or so we hope. Apparently though, wildlife is not deterred by this. I fancy they think of it as a challenge to be conquered, or perhaps it's more like robbing a bank. Either way, I present exhibit A:

It would seem that sometime during the night, an armadillo either found a way through the gate (maybe the cat let him in?) or scaled the back wall Mission Impossible style. It covered every square inch of that flower bed, and oddly enough (or thankfully enough more like it) our little armored friend did not touch the yard itself, nor did it uproot or damage any plants. It did stir up all the mulch though, and actually it almost weeded the flower bed for us just like a little four legged garden tiller; our little midnight gardner.

Happy Anniversary!

2006-06-22T16:02:00.000-07:00

I just want to take a moment to wish my parents a happy 32nd wedding anniversary. I love you guys!

Pool = Done, Yay!!!!

2006-06-22T15:52:00.000-07:00

Despite the threat of rain, workers arrived this morning and got the pool cleaned up, refinished and replaced some missing tiles. Now to fill it up and treat the water and it will be ready for 4th of July! Naturally the weather has cooled off almost twenty degrees now and storms are forecast for the next 10 days.

Sparrows = Rabbits

2006-06-21T14:47:00.000-07:00

I have this birdhouse made to look like a cat holding a platter. It used to have a bunch of feathers in its mouth and somewhere on there it said 'what bird?'. It had been hanging in the flower bed, unused, until we moved it to this pine tree in the middle of the back yard. Last year something piled some sticks and twigs in the bottom but never actually made a nest or produced any babies until now!

This year a pair of sparrows finished off the nest and raised a nice little family, and then they did it again, and again, and yet again! That's right, they are on their fourth set. They aren't very shy about it either, no sneaking away into the bushes or into the nest to do their thing; nor do they wait long after the kids have left. This last time I think they waited 10 minutes after kicking the last of the babies out for good before uhhhh.... starting over, right there, in broad daylight, between the cats feet!

They also did a bit of remodeling, and they were a bit overzealous about it too. There is now so much grass stuffed into the box I don't think there will be room enough for everyone when the new chicks hatch out. It's positively overflowing! I wonder if there will be a fifth set? Or if my yard will end up looking like that of Lady Tottington's in Wallace and Gromit only overflowing with sparrows instead of rabbits?

For The Love Of Laundry?

2006-06-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

I love laundry. Yup, that's right, I love it. Wait... what??? Ok so I used to despise doing the laundry because it took forever, all day in fact, to get done. This was mostly the fault of the dryer, because the dryer would not dry; each load had to be run 2 or 3 times. No more though! We picked up a Whirlpool Duet washer/dryer set and now not only are the clothes dry on the first try and all the loads done by noon, it's actually fun; fun to watch anyways. I'd never used a front-loader before and I must say its quite interesting... captivating even. I'm not 'that' easily amused, but I could sit and watch the clothes tumble round all day. Perhaps I'm being hypnotized? Now don't get me wrong though, I said I 'could' watch all day... doesn't mean I actually do. ;)

Happy Father's Day

2006-06-18T08:58:00.000-07:00

I just want to take a moment to wish a Happy Father's Day to the most wonderful man in my life, my dad. Here's to you dad *raises glass*... All my love, Cheers!

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there, may you have a fantastic day!

Congratulations Audi!

2006-06-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Audi, Joest Racing, and Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro/Marco Werner in the No. 8 TDI R10 for a historic win at 24 Hours of Le Mans! Congratulations also to Allan McNish/Rinaldo Capello/Tom Kristensen in the No.7 for their 3rd place finish. The R10 is the first ever diesel powered prototype to win Le Mans and did so with a record 380 laps. Audi placed 1rst and 3rd overall and in LMP1 with the Pescarolo placing 2nd. Whooooooooohoooooooooooooo AUDI!!!!!!

24 Hours of Le Mans

2006-06-17T10:05:00.000-07:00

Today marks the 74th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Audi R10 TDI's starting pole position. I just want to say GO AUDI GO!!!! Here's wishing Allan McNish/Rinaldo Capello/Tom Kristensen in the No.7, Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro/Marco Werner in the No. 8, Audi Sport/ Joest Racing and of course Audi AG a safe, fast and winning race!

Out With The Old, In With The Blue!

2006-06-16T17:26:00.000-07:00

Two years back I bought a new intake for the TT. It's quite the design; part cold air intake, part ram air (when set up with a FMIC), all power. The TTDA (that's twin tube dynamic airbox), is designed and manufactured by a fellow TT enthusiast as stage I of a three stage system, and can be purchased through The Modshack. The tube is made from insulated phenolic material, and houses a K&N cone filter fed by two air feeds so it sucks up fresh air while keeping things cool and protected from engine heat. Long story short, The Modshack came out with several new finishes and upgrades and after two years the carbon fiber finish just wasn't so exciting by comparison. So I sent my TTDA off for a refurb: upgraded insulation with koolmat, new composite endcaps, new clampless inlets, and a jewel like new finish of translucent blue over stainless. It arrived via fedex today. So without further ado, from left to right: New translucent blue, old carbon fiber, factory stock intake.

Out With The Old Part II

2006-06-16T16:24:00.000-07:00

What do you do with things you don't want anymore in small town Oklahoma? Well if it's something that still works, you put it down at the end of the driveway with a 'free' sign on it and someone will take it off your hands. Actually it doesn't even have to be in good working order as I've had people take a broken wood desk and a non-working LCD computer monitor from the trash. Back to the point of the story though. Today we bought a shiny new grill. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the old grill, it still worked great, it was just a bit rough around the edges (read dirty and worn). Someone would surely appreciate a free grill! So down to the street it went with a 'free' sign taped to the front and not 15 minutes later I spotted a gentleman attempting to load it into the back of his truck. I'm sure after he cleans it up a bit it will look good as new and serve him well for many years to come.

Enter Kenmore; the new hotness. Actually the new grill is a bit smaller but it has a better burner design so it heats and cooks more evenly. Most importantly though, it looks nice! Ok so that's not really all that important. The cooking abilities are important though, and I'm happy to report 'so far, so good'. It has been christened with brats (seen in photo) and man were they good! In fact, I think I'll go have another. ;)

Celebrate Nature Photography

2006-06-15T11:02:00.000-07:00

I love wildflowers. So much, in fact, that I have some planted in my front flower bed. I'd like to get more and plant them on the hill behind the house too. They are so beautiful! I have all sorts of wildflowers besides the ones in the photo, including lantanna, bachelor buttons, plains coreopsis (all pictured), babies breath, dwarf red coreopsis, lance leaf coreopsis, shasta daisies, blue flax, and black eyed susans. Now I just need some indian blankets, paintbrush and bluebonnets! :)

This quick snapshot of my wildflowers is to celebrate today, as June 15, 2006 has been officially designated Nature Photography Day! I wanted to try some nice macro shots but it is just too windy here today. :(

So I say take the day off, it is an 'official' holiday after all, and go take pictures of nature! Happy shooting! :)

A Couple of Great Books

2006-06-15T08:11:00.000-07:00

I love to read, but in the past two years or so I'd not picked up a book one. I'm not sure why, not like I didn't have the time. I guess sometimes passion for pastimes waxes and wanes, especially when you have several to get caught up in. Well in the past few months I seemed to have put the camera down, and picked up a book instead; several books in fact. I think I re-read every book I own. It was the second reading for some, others the fifth or sixth, and each just as good as the first (or better even in some cases!). Well then I just plain ran out of old books to read so I started something new. I found two that were so good I could not put them down! Now I am sad that I am done reading them (time to start over!). I can highly recommend The White Mare and The Dawn Stag, by Jules Watson. They are part of a trilogy, however the third book (The Boar Stone) will not be available till next year. This is ok though, as from what I understand the third book is not based on the characters in the first two... but is continued on by their ancestors some few hundred years in the future. At least you aren't left hanging with an unfinished story wondering what will befall the hero and heroine next. If you are a fan of Arthurian legend and historical fiction etc, you will like these.

Jules Watson weaves a tale both beautiful and horrible. The Dalriada Trilogy is a story of love amongst war. It is set in first century AD Alba (Scotland) during the Roman invasion, led by Agricola, and tells of an Epidii priestess who is offered as bride to an exiled Prince of Erin (Ireland) in exchange for help in defeating the Romans. Together they fight to unite the warring tribes of Alba into one force to turn back the red tide that is the Romans, but only if they can heal their emotionally 'complicated' marriage. She (Watson) provides a story with a perfect blend of love, fighting, fiction, and history.

Summer - pool = the suck

2006-06-14T11:53:00.000-07:00

Sometime back in March we arranged to have our pool refinished because of bad algae problems (the pool guy said this was due to the rough state of the concrete). They managed to get the cover off and the water drained and last month two guys actually came out and put a coat of primer on. Fast forward to today; the pool still sits drained and unfinished. There have been excuses in all shapes and sizes and forms. The current one is a broken pump. A new one will supposedly arrive today and our pool is 'first on his list' to be finished.

Let me just say though, that having an empty pool when it's 95 out is no fun... no fun at all! Perhaps the pump will actually arrive in a timely fashion (although so far nothing about this has been timely or it would have been finished over a month ago). We might actually have a functioning pool for the rest of the summer. Perhaps I'll win the lotto too!!! ;-P

Yeah...

zomghi2blog!

2006-06-14T09:46:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so I decided to start a blog. Yay me! Right now I have no idea what to say either, but I'm sure something will come to me soon. You can expect all sorts of odd randomness though!