Birds of Prey

There are hawks in our neighborhood.

Some months ago, I was able to capture a Red-Shouldered Hawk sitting on a bridge rail about a block from our house. He was just sitting there, taking in the wind and the sunset.

On one occasion, I was able to take a snapshot of one who had obviously just come down on a delicacy crawling on the grass out back.

One bright morning last week, I noticed that the squirrels were joyfully scampering about again. This time there were a whole bunch of them, like they were celebrating something. Running here and there. I counted eight pine trees where at least one squirrel would either be scurrying up and down the trunk or chewing on a nut with his back against it. Everyone was having fun.

Suddenly, my attention was drawn to some flapping movements on the far side of the conservation area. Two hawks had swooped down on a squirrel! The furry creature squealed and tried to escape but one of the hawks pinned it down until it lay helpless on the grass. I grabbed my camera just in time to take this shot.

The hawk flew away with the squirrel locked in his talons, a little brown tail hanging limp in the wind.

It’s been more than a week and the squirrels are still in hiding.

Yesterday, we were watching TV when we heard a crash in the lanai.

“What the heck was that?” (It’s so peaceful out here that every time we hear an unusual sound, we just have to investigate.)

We looked around at our equipment, our stuff; nothing was out of place. We looked out, and just outside the window, a hawk stood on the grass with what seemed like the tail end of a lizard hanging from the corner of its beak.

We figured that the hawk spotted one of the lizards that hang out on our window screens and grabbed it, causing that crashing sound.

“Take a picture, take a picture!”

I was too shocked and awed at how close the hawk was, and at the prospect that it swooped in to grab a lizard off our window that by the time I was able to shoot, the hawk was taking off (although the camera had already been set up on a tripod and facing out that particular window panel at the time; why, I don’t know).

So, I guess the hawks are going to be a main character in our Animal Planet backyard show. Can’t wait for the next episode.

Night Sounds

We live in Orlando, you know, the city where dreams come true. For several years, we stayed in an apartment located just two traffic lights away from Mickey Mouse's door. Every night we would hear a cacophony of fireworks explosions from Epcot, Magic Kingdom, or Downtown Disney. (Every now and then we would hear heavy walking and late night furniture rearranging from the neighbors upstairs.)

Fireworks are exceptionally loud during holidays like the eve of the 4th of July or New Year's. They usually last about 10 to 15 minutes, so they won't really keep you up. If they ever wake you up, especially the finale super-explosions, you quickly realize it's the Disney fireworks giving all those breathtaken visitors the awe of their lives, and you promptly fall back asleep.

Since we moved to our new place last year, we have a different set of nighttime sounds. We now live about two blocks from Seaworld, where they also have fireworks, although not everyday, and not as loud as Disney's. And because the Orlando International Airport is just 15 minutes away, the traffic of airplanes can sometimes be heard in the stillness of the night.

But tonight, we heard a totally unusual sound. For a second it sounded like someone dropped a piece of furniture upstairs. Only thing is, there's no "upstairs" -- unless someone dropped something on our roof. It didn't quite sound like thunder... the weather was clear all day.

"What the heck was that?"

So, we paused the show we were watching and we stepped outside, looking around for whatever may have caused that thunderous explosion.

A neighbor was taking a stroll. She saw me walk out to our driveway and look up at the clear blue sky.

"You heard the sound of the shuttle," she called out, smiling.

"That was the space shuttle?"

"Yes, the sonic boom of the space shuttle."

"Oh, wow! That's right! They're landing tonight! Thanks!" It was a huge "aha" moment for me!

So, there it was, our first sonic boom experience in all the years we lived in Orlando. Next time we hear a thunderous sound like someone dropped a piece of furniture "upstairs," we'll know to suspect it was another space shuttle announcing its arrival.

A news article said the Endeavor caused a "twin zonic boom" as it came in to land at the Kennedy Space Center. For more about the Space Shuttle Endeavor and its mission, and some tidbits about the International Space Station that's now 70% complete and gearing towards human expeditions to the moon:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

New Articles: Aquarium Design and Decor

How to Design an Aquarium

Designing an aquarium, also called aquascaping, is one of the most exciting and challenging aspects of the fishkeeping hobby. The aquarium is a mini replica (or simulation) of the fishes' natural homes, which means utmost care must be taken in designing, preparing and maintaining the tank's elements and ecosystem. Here are some guidelines in designing a successful fish tank.

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How to Be Creative With Aquarium Decor

Aquascaping or decorating an aquarium involves the bringing together of various elements primarily to simulate the natural habitats of the resident fishes. Setting up aquarium tank décor is a basic task--and after you've done a few setups and seen others, they start to all look the same. How can you make your aquarium stand out? Here are a few suggestions.

New Articles: Growing Roses and Cleaning Bronze

How to Grow Bare-Root Roses in Containers

One of the best ways to propagate roses is by transplanting them in their bare root state. Bare-root roses remain stagnant until they are "awakened" through soaking and planting on the ground or in containers. Here are the simple steps to plant bare-root roses in containers.

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How to Clean and Polish Bronze

Almost everyone has bronze décor pieces in their home. These metal artifacts may have looked shiny and new when you bought them, but the longer they are exposed to air and moisture, the greener and duller they become. Bronze reacts with moisture (oxidation) to form a greenish layer on its surface, called patina. Some homeowners appreciate the darkened finish because it adds character to the metal, but many prefer their bronze clean and shiny. Here are a couple of natural ways to clean and polish your bronze treasures.

New Articles: Metal Tables and Papier-Mache'

New articles at my eHow Home & Garden:

How to Repaint a Metal Table

Metal tables, especially those used in outdoor gardens and patios, can quickly rust and deteriorate from exposure to the elements. They should be checked periodically for fading and corrosion, and then cleaned and repainted as necessary. Follow these steps for removing rust from an old metal table and repainting it to look like new.

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How to Make Papier-Mache' Hearts

One of the easiest ways to create decorative forms is with papier-mache' or paper mache. Using common materials like old newspaper, modeling clay and diluted white glue, you can create your favorite three-dimensional shapes and forms for decorating your home. Here are the simple steps for making papier-mache' hearts for Valentine's Day, Christmas, or just for fun.

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How to Make a Valentine Mobile

Mobiles are interesting décor items because they are dynamic and always in motion. Hanging your favorite items in a balanced, free-moving configuration can be attractive to infants learning about shapes and motion, as well as to art aficionados appreciating creative expression. Here are the simple steps to creating a Valentine mobile with bamboo sticks and lightweight papier-mache' hearts.

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Book Review: Life Safari by John Strelecky

Available only at TheLifeSafari.com

Many of us have it on our "to-do-before-I-die" list: go on an African Safari. John Strelecky (as Jack) had it on his list, too. Life Safari is about how he had dreamed of experiencing Africa, when he decided to take the trip, who and what he discovered there, and why it changed his life.

John Strelecky tells us about an old woman, Ma Ma Gombe, an experienced safari guide, who not only showed Jack where the animals were, but also shared the wisdom, and the secrets, of the wild continent. Jack told Ma Ma Gombe that he wanted to walk across Africa to see five animals, his African Big Five. The old woman agreed to help him because doing so meant she would also have the chance to pursue one of her "Big Five for Life"--the five things to see or do to declare one’s life a success.

Life Safari is a simple story that can be read in one sitting; but each chapter, each lesson that Ma Ma Gombe shares, each adventure with the wild animals, hides a deeper meaning. Interestingly, these "deeper meanings" are universal. Readers, no matter their circumstance in life, can relate and find countless takeaways from the book.

Through Life Safari, Strelecky succeeds in inspiring his readers to contemplate on their personal "Big Five for Life." What are the five things you want to see or do to be able to say that your life was a success? Through Ma Ma Gombe’s stories and advice, the book shares some specific strategies on how to pursue them.

It doesn't have to be Africa. You only need to immerse in the story, be amazed at how it often touches on your own dreams of adventure and excitement, and dwell on the magic and mystery of life and the universe. This book is really an essential guide... for a life journey, a life safari, that each of us will have to take.

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Read my other book reviews at OurSimpleJoys: Inspiration: Book Reviews

My "tsukubai" Project

I wanted to build a water feature on the corner near the door to our patio. I deliberated on a lot of ideas: a small koi pond, a stillwater pond, a small fountain. I couldn't decide. Then I found a book about "Theme Gardens" and one theme that attracted me was the Japanese "tsukubai" or water basin.

The "official" tsukubai is composed of four rocks, a water vessel, water that flows through a bamboo fixture, and stones or pebbles to unify the whole setup.

The four flat-topped rocks are: a stepping stone, a kneeling stone, a setting-down rock on the right for a pitcher or teakettle, and a slightly higher rock on the left to set down a lantern or candle.

The water basin can be a hollowed out rock or a stone jar or basin. The pebbles between the rocks and the basin are symbolic of a sea in the middle of the rocks. And they serve to absorb the water spills.

The tsukubai is traditionally a water basin built outside a tearoom. Guests wash their hands there before the tea ceremony. It's also found outside temples for the symbolic cleansing of the spirit.

A Japanese-style water basin garden feature would be pretty easy to do, but I still had to figure out the logistics... the rocks and the jar, which were the main elements, would be expensive and difficult to work with.

All of a sudden, from out of the blue, everything came together. With the help of ArtificialRocksFactory.com and a clearance sale of fiberglass stone jars at a neighborhood Super Target store, I was finally able to build my tsukubai.

The article about the step-by-step process is now published in eHow.com:
How to Make a Japanese-Style Water Feature.

How-tos at eHow.com

A long time ago, there was Themestream.com. Then there was Webseed.com. After that I got picked up by eRef.com and WriteEdge.com, then Magi21.com. Of course, the whole time I was a mainstay at Suite101.com. Aside from Suite101.com, where my Introduction to Backpacking tutorial still resides, all the content sites I used to work for are now history. The stints were good while they lasted, but true to the volatility of the World Wide Web phenomenon, they, well, evolved.

Now there's eHow.com. I've been hired to be one of their resident "Experts" in the Home & Garden section. I love it because I get to write about how to do the things I enjoy doing. I've always been a home and garden person. I got it from my parents. They gave me the handyman handcrafter gene, and the opportunity to try my hand at anything I'd be curious about. I think it's just about time to share the knowledge and experience I've accumulated over the years.

So, where will you find me at eHow.com? Right here: Ruby Bayan

My two latest articles are:
How to Provide Adequate Lighting to Indoor Plants
How to Find Your Ideal Partner

Many more articles... I'll post the titles here as they get published.

Harnessing ADD

Like most parents dreaming of the best for their children, mine wanted me to be a doctor. When I told them I failed both my Qualitative and Organic Chemistry courses, their dreams faded into oblivion. Over the years, I realized I couldn't have been a good doctor, anyway -- and it was their fault... because they gave me ADD.

There was no "Attention Deficit Disorder" back then. We, young ones, were just "distracted" (it was the dawn of color TV!) or "over-stimulated" (good ol' rock 'n' roll!). Most of the time we were just experiencing a surge of hormones. Nobody thought we had some kind of "disorder."

It's only now, in this semi-retirement phase of my life that I finally understood why I've been constantly curious and "highly creative" –- I have ADD. With a craving to learn something new, my short attention span takes me from one body of interest to another. Many times, I would exhaust a passion to the point where I can say, "I've done that," and then I'd move on and try something new. That's not such a bad thing, is it?

Lately, I noticed that I've actually structured my activities to jibe with my ADD. For example, my handicrafts projects (like the bookmarks and notepads I sell online) require drying time, so after I'm done with one task, I can pull out and do something else. When I write or edit, I give it one or two passes, then I pull out and go back the next day with a fresh set of eyes. When I do my jewelry, I have several projects on-going and move from one inspiration to another. In between all these, I cook, surf the 'Net, garden, take photos, workout, and putter about. I'm never bored and I learn something new everyday. It's all so exciting!

In a way, I feel that I've successfully harnessed my ADD. My parents may have been disappointed that I didn't become a doctor, but they’d be happy that I've made the most of the genes they handed down.

So, I should end this here... I feel this big urge to learn metalsmithing. Where's that site I bookmarked?

[Reprinted from my old Blurty journal, May 5, 2005]

John Kaizan Neptune

A while back, I scoured the Internet for a CD copy of one of my favorite easy-listening LPs, Mixed Bag, which had one of my favorite love songs, "Soft Melody." But it looked like the LP never made it to CD format.

So, I searched for the artist, John Kaizan Neptune, famous for his romance with the shakuhachi bamboo flute. That led me to his homepage, http://www.jneptune.com, where I found his email address and everything about him and his craft. He's been living in Japan and making his own flutes.

I was bent on finding out how I could get a digital copy of his Mixed Bag album because I had no means to convert the songs from LP to CD, so I wrote him an email. That was in December, 2005.

Last week, I received an answer. I was very pleasantly surprised!

John had been preparing a new album, which will be coming out very soon: Bamboo Magic. He said it was recorded in India and Japan. I'll be looking out for it for sure!

And he sent me some photos! I asked his permission to share them on my blog and he said, yes!







If you haven't heard of John Kaizan Neptune, or his shakuhachi music, you're missing a very essential experience. Trust me.

Why learn something new?

My father never smoked a cigarette in his life, but he suffered from emphysema, most likely brought on by his commission in the military. He was commander of an artillery brigade during World War II. While he lived to age 84, he spent a good share of his senior years on hospital beds.

The years before he passed away, he often said to me, "If you had become a doctor, you would be treating me. You should have studied medicine." That time I was into information technology and marketing.

I didn't know then how to reply to my father's sentiment. But now I know. I would never have become a doctor, even if I tried real hard. I wasn't born with the brain cells to store volumes of medical information and readily access them for the patients I needed to treat. I wasn't even born with the stomach to stay calm and collected when a fellow human being screams in pain and gushes blood. I wasn't born with doctor genes.

Instead, I was born with a deep sense of curiosity and awe... at the universe around me. I might be curious enough to learn about health and sickness, and biology and mortality, maybe even psychiatry or surgery, but I'm also curious about thousands of other non-medical things.

At age 13, my curiosity in the kitchen led me to learn how to bake different types of cakes, cookies, and desserts. My mother couldn't stop me from pedaling the sewing machine and making my own clothes. I knew how to crochet, embroider, and make handicrafts. I think I was 16 when I learned how to mix cement and lay down bathroom tiles. Balancing on ladders to paint walls and window grills was as much an adventure for me as raising aquarium fishes, growing cacti, and solving jigsaw puzzles. Later on I found myself building wall shelves, practicing karate, and climbing mountains. Then computers and the Internet came along, opening up more stuff to delve into.

Much of this curiosity must have been handed down by my mother. She was half Spanish and big on discipline, but as she taught me how to set the table and entertain guests the old fashioned way, she also taught me never to fear new things. Read. Travel. Mingle. Observe. Absorb and appreciate as much as possible.

I wasn't born with the brains and guts of a doctor. I was born with a heart compelled to explore, find adventure, and learn new things everyday. My ailing father wouldn't have understood, but I think that if he could read me now, he would still be pleased.

Stories about my parents as my inspiration and role models are here:
http://www.oursimplejoys.com/inspiration.html

Flamingo A Go Go

In case you're not familiar with my Flickr photo site, username: MyRuby, I'd like to share a set of interesting shots that I took the last time I visited Seaworld.

There's a preserve at Seaworld where Caribbean Flamingos congregate. The other times I visited the park, the birds were loud and cackling at each other -- doing their bird thing. This time, they were all taking a nap.

I'm not sure what it is that inspires them to nap at the same time, at this particular time, but there they were, their long necks all curled up, their heads tucked under a wing, and, yes, standing on one leg. All of them!



So, while I was pretending to be a photographer there, getting bored at all the ball of feathers I was waiting to move around for some semblance of a flamingo photo shoot, two of them woke up and walked toward each other. They seemed to have awoken too early, and decided to confront each other.



"Did YOU wake me up?"

"Of course not! Maybe YOU woke me up!"

Then a third one woke up and approached the other two. Their heads came together, bobbed up and down, their rubbery necks almost twisting around one another. They looked like they were planning something. For a few seconds there, I imagined them hatching a plan (get it, "hatching"?! LOL!).



"Hey, Vinni... here's what we'll do. On my signal, we'll flap our wings and run about, cackling like crazy, you get that?! We'll wake 'em up and show 'em who's boss!"

Well, they didn't really do anything like that. After a few more minutes of bobbing heads and nudging each other, probably some macho territorial ritual, they walked away and slowly faded into the pond-ful of balls of feathers. At least I got a few neat-o photos of these exotic iconic birds.

Next time I visit Seaworld, I'll camp out next to the penguins.

HINT: click on photos for larger versions and to browse my Flickr site.

Paramotoring

Back in the 70s, I overheard a couple of classmates talk about meeting up over some cliff to try out some new hang gliders. Wow! Hang gliding! I would've crashed their party if I weren't too busy memorizing lines for a drama presentation. Looking back, I should've just flown off a cliff considering how far I -didn't- go with that drama workshop.

Over the years, I've always contemplated on trying out some method of flying -- if not dead dropping with a parachute, maybe air-swimming about with a hang glider, or floating about with a motorized oversized kite.

A few days ago, we saw a guy doing just that -- floating about an open field under an oversized kite, with a huge fan and a motor strapped to his back. The fan and motor remind me of the airboats that maneuver through the everglades.

Motorized Paragliding... or Paramotoring... is what it's called. Here are a couple of photos I snapped in a hurry as we passed by.





It looks like a lot of fun -- you don't have to depend on the wind for your flight, and you don't have to jump off a plane, a cliff, or a tall building to get your thrill. Of course, you have to fork over most of your inheritance for the gear and the fuel, but hey, you gotta have some form of investment to literally fly high.

Want to learn more? See more photos? I found these two sites (I'm not affiliated with them in any way).

www.paragliding.us/paramotoring.htm

www.uptimal.com/club.html

Maybe one of these days.

Cleaning Dried Eucalyptus

It was time to clean my dried flower arrangements. The last time I cleaned the one in the bathroom was... never. Not that they didn't really need any cleaning, but because it's a big arrangement with assorted flowers and reeds that it would really require a considerable block of time to clean them.

You wish you could just throw them in a bucket of sudsy water, shwish them around, pull them out, and shake them dry. But you can't. You have to hold each stalk and gently brush off the dust and dirt. You could lose a dried flower or break a twig here and there, but it's part of the cleaning process.

Most of my arrangements are eucalyptus -- I like them for their resiliency. The fragrance is distinct, although I've encountered some that get nasty after a while, smelling like old socks -- I think some driers mess with additive fragrances. But, dried eucalyptus really last forever.

So, I picked up my trusty soft-bristled paintbrush, took a seat out in the patio, dumped all the preserved eucalyptus branches, dried wheat stalks, mini-bamboos, twisted cane sticks, and dehydrated flowers on the round table, and went to work.

It took me about an hour to clean three floral arrangements. I re-arranged only enough for one vase. The rest, I laid out in an oversized shirt box to store for future use. I could've thrown them away... they're dead anyway. But I'm a certified card-carrying packrat, er, conservationist-recycler, who believes that every item in this world could potentially be a component of a revolutionary art piece. Okay, I'm a packrat. But look, these preserved eucalyptus leaves still look good after... so many years!

Eucalyptus leaves are particlarly prone to dust... they attract dust... or more like dust clings to them for dear life. That's because the leaves and stems are naturally oily. Eucalyptus is preserved by letting them absorb water spiked with glycerin, an ingredient in the soap-making process. Effectively, the branches as "dry" but remain oily. Therefore, it requires a little patience to clean these branches because you have to brush both sides of each leaf to really do a good job. Blowing or "swiffer"-ing won't do. Well, consider it a zen experience -- not unlike pruning and shaping bonsai. Or, just like you polish your silver, you brush your dried eucalyptus.

Here are some photos I took during my zen moments:

My Tiny Yellow Puzzle

I used to collect puzzles and brain teasers -- from jigsaws to Rubiks to wood puzzles (from geometric shapes to animal shapes and such). When I moved to another continent, I left them all behind. Except one... a small yellow plastic geometric puzzle that I dismantled several years ago, and virtually forgot about. Until yesterday, when I accidentally found it in one of my treasure boxes.

I don't know what possessed me to put it back together, but it was like it was the first time I worked on it! I spent close to 7 hours fidgeting with it. I stayed up late last night solving it and gave up when my eyes started to sting.

This afternoon, I spent another few hours of sheer concentration... hell bent on getting those blasted pieces to come together. Until finally!





Whew! Now I remember why I was digging into my treasure box... I was looking for something to take pictures of. And I imagined this puzzle would be a nice subject. Well, now that I've solved it, I don't really care if the photos are good or not. Haha!

Faces

Our treadmill is positioned so that the treadmiller (new word?) faces the fountain pond outside. Here's the POV of the treadmiller:



When you're staring at a particular view for about 30 minutes almost everyday, you kinda notice some details you'd normally take for granted. For example, I noticed that when the treadmill is on a 10-degree incline, I could see the tops of all the cars that drive by, and about 80% of them have sunroofs. Oh ye, we're in Florida.

Also, there's a new tenant on the second floor unit across the pond. I haven't really seen the person, but I'm assuming he's male because he doesn't care if he leaves the blinds up all night, or hanging crooked all day. And the resident with the small black dog lets his pet wander close to the pond. The dog seems to always be wearing a red vest -- maybe it's a life vest, in case he falls into the water.

Anyway, what I wanted to share today are the -faces- that stare at me when I do my treadmilling (another new word?). Yes, faces. Just faces. No bodies to speak of. Just faces. These faces:





Don't they look mean and bad-tempered?! The boogly-eyed one looks male -- I call him Gonzor. The other face looks female -- I call her Grenza. Why? No particular reason -- they just look like a Gonzor and a Grenza to me.

Their features are obviously the result of trimmers pruning the trees. Would there be some way to cut the branches so that the tree trunk scars will have smiling faces? That should be fun.

Pinecone Tree

And this is the tabletop tree that the pinecones adorned:



A Merry Christmas to all!

P.S. Check out the candle holders that I made out of clam shells.

Pinecone Decor

I always thank my mother for the creativity genes she shared with me. She was a stay-at-home mom and her hands were always busy crafting something… from pastries, to paper beads, to pompom poodle bottles. Today, I'll reminisce one of her favorite holiday decorations: jazzed up pinecones.

Back in those days, we would go to a Farmer's Market to buy big sacks of pinecones that were brought down from the mountains. The objective was to hang the cones on our Christmas tree, so my mom would tie each one with a ribbon. Then she would dab white glue on the tips of the cone’s flaps, sprinkle glitter on the glue, and shake off the excess glitter. Then she would add a cute bow on top and voila! Of course, by the time we were ready to hang the cones, our hands and faces would all be shimmering in green and gold glitter!

This time, it's a little different. I picked up the cones from the lawn across the pond. There's a huge pine tree out there that drops quite a bunch of rather large cones in the middle of the year. So, I've had these pinecones since April, I think.

Some of them fell with part of their stems intact, so it would be easy to tie a handle on them. Those with no stems, I drilled small holes and hot-glued twist ties to serve as their handles.

Then I used an acrylic type metallic paint to color the tips of the cone flaps "glorious gold" and "royal ruby."





Add some ribbons, gold balls, and other accessories, and we're all set.





Now all we need is the tree to hang them on.

What Was I Thinking: The Bagel Incident

I have a long list of excuses: "Senior moment" (most valid, of course), "I was distracted" (it's my ADD), "I'm new here" (I look like a foreigner wherever I am), "Sorry... instinct" (you can't blame me for a knee-jerk reaction), or "I didn't get the memo" (aka: "Why didn't you tell me?").
What are these excuses for? For my "Duh" moments, which I will refer to as my "What Was I Thinking?!" moments. Let me start with the good ol' bagel incident.

For those of you who've been patiently reading my online ramblings, I wrote about my first encounter with the bagel here: Romancing The Bagel.

As if my romance with this wanna-be-donut pastry wasn't enough humiliation (however private it was) sure enough, I had another episode where I just knew that someone behind me had said, "What the heck is she doing?"

We were at a hotel breakfast spread. I was barely awake (excuse #1). They had the average fare: cereal, oatmeal, fruits, coffee, juice, milk, doughnuts, muffins, sliced bread, and bagels. Some hotels have waffle makers and microwave ovens; this one had a contraption -- like those pizza cooking gizmos -- with a conveyor belt and a heating element over the belt so that you toast only the top portion of whatever you want to toast the top portion of… like maybe your bagel. But unlike pizza conveyors, this one doesn’t go in one end and out the other -– it goes in one end and out underneath.

In other words, you put the bagel on the conveyor, and it slowly travels into the toaster, falls through the back end, and slides forward so you can pick it up just under the belt. Easy.

This was our first time at this hotel, and the first time I saw this contraption (excuse #2). And that morning, I wanted a bagel. What I've always done with my bagel was split it open (learned to do that already), spread some cream cheese on each half, and pop the cheesed slices on the toaster oven. I get warm bagels with a slightly crusty cream cheese topping. Just the way I want it.

So, instinctively (excuse #3), I picked up a bagel, split it open, and spread some cream cheese on the slices. I looked up and about for a toaster oven, but it seemed this conveyor contraption was all they had. So I placed by cheesed bagel slices on the belt. And they started traveling into the machine.

Suddenly, it's like I woke up. Aach! Before I could take another breath, my slices rode deep into the machine, disappeared from view, and fell into the back of the toaster... cheese-side down.

I had to grab the longest pair of tongs on the table so that I could reach the bagel slices now upside down and totally stuck to the back end of the chute where the bagels slide out.

I dashed away with my warm half-bagels, nevermind that most of the cream cheese topping ended up on the floor of the toaster. I was hoping nobody noticed, but surely someone will whisper a curse when his bagel gets stuck in the chute because some idiot put a cheesed slice in the toaster.

The good news is, that was a lesson well learned. I will know what to do (or not do) when I use that conveyor toaster again.

The better news is, now there's a bagel toaster that doesn't use conveyor belts to heat only one side of the slice. These bagel toasters are regular sliced bread toasters but with wider slots to accommodate the fat half-bagels; and if you press the button that says "Bagel" it heats up only one side of the slot.

Here's the model we got:



All I have to remember is to cheese my bagels -after- I toast them.

Blogger Beta and Feedburner Funk

Sometimes procrastination saves the day. Case in point: I had been considering moving to another blog server because Blogger didn’t have the “tags” capability. I felt I needed a way to sort my entries by topic since my blog has been racking up posts, but Blogger’s interface didn’t allow it. I knew I had to migrate, but I kept putting it off like an appointment for a root canal. Though I knew I’d have to do it eventually.

Just as I was cracking my knuckles ready to deal with yet another learning curve switching to Wordpress or some other blog venue, Blogger announces an upgrade version that allows “labels” for each journal entry. “Tag”... “Label”... same diff. So, I rested my knuckles and waited for the version release. They rolled it out yesterday. And I must say I’m pretty happy with the new features and ease-of-use. Labeling was a snap!

Unfortunately, this morning, the Feedburner feed managing my blog gave me (and all the feed subscribers to Learn-Something-New, obviously) a funky surprise.

Apparently, when I labeled my journal entries in Blogger (of course, I had to label all the entries, all the way back to March, or else the labeling concept wouldn’t make much sense), Feedburner got messed up. Today, it sent out a notification that Learn-Something-New has a new entry, but instead of the actual latest entry that I wrote yesterday, it broadcasted the posts I wrote back in August.

Anyway, I’m done tweaking the labels, so this post should appear in tomorrow’s Feedburner broadcast as the latest entry. Things will iron out eventually. Well, they better!

Meanwhile, I’ll stay on with Blogger… I still have to experiment on the new mess-with-your-layout feature. I wonder what exciting glitch will come my way this time around.

P.S. Thank you, Blogger, for your new features. I’m sure a lot of bloggers like me appreciate all the hard work you’ve put in. Kudos to your tech team!

Festival of the Masters 2006

The Festival of the Masters has been an annual event at Downtown Disney for the last 31 years. I wonder why I never went out of my way to see it until last weekend. According to the brochure, the Festival “showcases art from more than 200 of the finest artists across the nation.”

Sculpture, jewelry, painting, photography, glass, and digital art are just some of the art genres featured this year. It took me two hours to just walk from one booth to the next, without even talking to the artists. An amazing collection of absolutely stunning work.

Too bad I didn’t have the time or energy to ask the artists about their chosen art, where their studios are, or how it feels to be part of a very special show like the Festival of the Masters. I would’ve learned so much from them. All I could do was snap some photos to remember the shock and awe I experienced as a spectator.

Here are my favorite booths (I apologize, I didn’t get the names of the artists. A serious oversight):









The larger versions and the rest of the photos are here: Festival of the Masters

Also, I discovered that the Festival’s Signature Art Artist, the one created the logo for this year’s event, is Arnel Platon – born in the Philippines and a migrant to the US in 1971 when he was 10. More about Arnel and his Festival Signature Art.

Creepy Cake

We get them from the Oriental grocery stores -- they’re called “Red Bean Cake” or, more popularly where I grew up, “Hopia Mongo.” They’re round pastries made with flaky layers of paper-thin dough and stuffed with a pasty filling made from finely ground mongo beans.

The hopia is supposed to have originated in China and might have evolved from another bean-based pastry called the Moon Cake, which is a favorite treat for Chinese holidays and festivities. A similar incarnation of the hopia might have originated in Japan, because there’s the cube-shaped mongo bean delicacy we call Hopiang Hapon.

A few days ago, we got our fix of hopia treats from the Chinese store. I’m not sure if the baker intentionally made this bean cake this way, but it sort of freaked me out when I tore off the wrapper. I took these photos with my phone... you tell me what you see.





Happy Halloween?

More about the hopia here: Hopia on Wikipedia

Blue Ridge Parkway Road Trip

I’ve stopped counting the times we’ve driven up from Florida to the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. When you live in Florida, you eventually get tired of the theme parks and the beach scene. You wake up one day craving for mountain slopes and fresh air.

This year, we drove yet another 10 hours north until we reached Asheville, our favorite base camp for our drive up and down the Blue Ridge Parkway. Mornings and high altitudes gave us the chilly autumn breeze we so impatiently wait for in Orlando.

The most wonderful experience on this trip was our search for the colors of fall. We were able to schedule our vacation just when most trees along the parkway are peaking in reds and golds. Every outlook we visited was busy with tourists and photographers capturing the splendor of the mountains. Tripods here and there… motorists slowing down to snap quick remembrances… chitchats with fellow Floridians getting away from it all.

We’ve gone to the mountains many times, on different times of the year. This trip is the best one yet. And I have pictures to prove it.







More photos (in bigger sizes) in my flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rubybayan/

Stunning Sculptures

We all know sculpture chiseled from rock. But with man’s innate and infinite creativity, the world has learned to appreciate sculpture in many other media. Here are some of the most awe-inspiring creations I found:

Polymer Clay Creations by Jon Anderson

Liquid Sculpture by Martin Waugh

Metal Sculpture: Wildlife Collection by Dick Kappel

Contemporary Glass Sculpture by dozens of renowned artists hosted by the Holsten Galleries

Paper Sculpture by Calvin Nicholls

Paper Sculpture at ebaumsworld.com

Ice Sculpture at ebaumsworld.com

Are you ready for the future?

Less than four months to go to Year 2007. 2 0 0 7! I still remember how... in a previous life... we scrambled to ensure that the world as we know it wouldn't end at the turn of the Millennium. The Y2K project we called it. That's history and we're fast drifting past Space Odyssey territory. But where are the flying cars? The shuttles to the Moonbase? The androids?

Just when I imagine I'd have bought the farm when all of these futuristic ideas become part of the human way of life, I come across this video:



If these guys work real fast, I might still get to see flying cars after all.

License To Eat Fast Food

Stripped from today’s headlines:

Obesity An 'International Scourge'
Conference Warns Of Global Fat Pandemic's Consequences

"Obesity is an international scourge," Prof. Paul Zimmet, the chairman of the meeting of more than 2,500 experts and health officials, told delegates in a speech opening the International Congress on Obesity. "This insidious, creeping pandemic of obesity is now engulfing the entire world."

An average adult is supposed to require only about 2000 calories of food per day to stay healthy. When the World Health Organization says that more than 1 billion adults around the world are overweight, with 300 million of them considered obese, I’m not surprised. It’s really very easy to exceed our daily food intake quota, especially in the more industrialized nations where everything is biggie-sized. With all the excess calories we consume getting stored in the body as fat, we’re kicked into the obese category quicker than we can say, “Burp.”

So, having too much time on my hands, I went surfing for the nutrition information on some of our favorite fast food places (interesting how they all provide these numbers now for public consumption – pun intended). I culled the calorie and fat count of their biggest and smallest burger items (all their other burger choices have nutrition values in between) from Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Burger King, and Carl’s Jr.:

Wendy’s
Big Bacon Classic = 580 calories, 29 grams of fat
Jr. Burger = 280 calories, 9 grams of fat
http://www.wendys.com/food/pdf/us/nutrition.pdf

McDonalds
Double Quarter Pounder with cheese = 730 calories, 40 grams of fat
Hamburger = 260 calories, 9 grams of fat
McDonald's Menu Items Nutrition

Burger King
Triple Whopper Sandwich with Cheese = 1230 calories, 82 grams of fat
Whopper Jr. = 370 calories, 21 grams of fat
http://www.bk.com/Nutrition/PDFs/brochure.pdf

Carl’s Jr.
Double Six Dollar Burger = 1522 calories, 110 grams of fat
Low Carb Six Dollar Burger = 490 calories, 37 grams of fat
http://www.carlsjr.com/content/downloads/nutrition.pdf

Now, for my radical idea...

The Health Department should issue “License To Eat Fast Food” cards specifically for dining in fast food restaurants. They can be called “License To Overeat” or “License To Stuff Yourself” cards, whatever. The idea is to have different fast food eating clearance levels.

For example, if you want to have a Carl’s Jr. Double Six Dollar Burger (1522 calories) for lunch, you should be able to present a “License To Eat Fast Food” card with a LEVEL G (for Gorge) clearance. Which means you must be underweight (Body Mass Index of less than 18.5; refer to http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/), a professional athlete, a body builder, or practicing for an eating competition.

Every six months, the Health Department will give qualifying exams for the various “License To Eat Fast Food” clearance levels.

Average, healthy persons in the normal BMI ranges (18.5-24.9) will get a LEVEL E (for Eat Healthy) clearance. They’re allowed to order anything on the menu that doesn’t have the words “Big,” “Double,” "Triple," or “Whopper.”

People who are in the overweight and obese brackets (BMI of 25 and higher) will get a LEVEL C (for Control) clearance. They can order anything on the menu that has the words “Low,” “-Free,” and “Diet,” with a maximum of 3 items per 3-hour period.

How to implement that is another story (not to mention the flack it’ll raise from the Hefty-and-Happy crowd). But hey, it’s an idea. After all, “Global Fat Pandemic” deserves some serious thought.

If you’re interested in an easy way to compare nutrition information among the 12 leading fast food restaurant chains, here’s a site with a handy search interface: The Fast Food Nutrition Fact Explorer.

Admirers of Fine Print

If there’s one thing I learned here in the US, it’s to read the fine print… on everything.

If you want what’s good for you, you should read the tiniest printed words not just on contracts, agreements, and disclaimers, but also on discount coupons, sales flyers, special offers, product labels, bills, notices, as well as posters, cards, and all your mail.

The main reason you must read the fine print (and that’s after you’ve checked the “Best Before,” “Valid,” and “Expires” dates) is to make sure your expectations are correct, especially when something looks too good to be true. You know what they say, “If it looks too good to be true, there’s a catch.”

For example, a credit card offer will put “No annual fee!” in bold letters, but the fine print will say that on top of the high interest rate, there’s a sign-up fee and a sell-your-soul list of other fees and charges.

Notice how car commercials on TV scream “THE BEST DEAL IN TOWN!” but in very small print, which flashes on the screen on the millisecond that you decide to blink, will effectively say, “Restrictions apply,” which, for all intents and purposes, actually means “none of you will qualify.”

Just a few days ago, I came across these too-good-to-be-true eye catchers:

$1.99 WHOLE CHICKEN
with the purchase of a family meal
(Poster at Boston Market)

FREE GIFT
wrapping everyday
(Sign at Bealls)

FREE PIZZA!
2nd Pizza of Equal or Lesser Value
(Domino’s Gift Certificate)

Since I started on a mission to read all the fine print on anything I buy, use, consume, or even consider taking into my scheme of things, I’ve become familiar with these:

“Void where prohibited by law.”
“Subscription will be renewed automatically unless you cancel.”
“Limited time offer.”
“Consumers with food allergies, please read the ingredient statement carefully.”
“Heating times are approximate.”
“Consuming raw or uncooked meats may increase your risk of foodborne illness.”
“Only at participating locations. Not valid with other offers. Delivery areas and charges may vary. One coupon per order. No double toppings.”
“These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.”
“Any other use constitutes fraud.”

And the most popular clincher: “Individual results may vary.”

To cap this off, here’s what I found when I signed up with a Feedburner email subscription:

"For admirers of fine print, we also offer the following details:
The publisher of the site you have subscribed to uses FeedBurner to deliver email subscriptions. FeedBurner's Terms of Service govern this subscription service. This subscription is a relationship between the publisher and you, the subscriber; the publisher will have access to their complete mailing list should they decide to stop using FeedBurner and move to another service. FeedBurner provides email delivery service to the publisher; it will never sell email addresses, share email addresses or send any other email to the email address. FeedBurner never liked that, and never will. Nice FeedBurner."

To Be A Millionaire

Back in our younger days, my friends and I used to say, “We’re so ready to be millionaires… the only thing missing is money.”

I’m sure some of them have found the money by now and are comfortably circulating among fellow millionaires. I have high regard for them, especially after I read an article about what it takes to become wealthy.

In a nutshell, all you need to do to become a millionaire are:
1. work long hours
2. take risks
3. be willing to fail

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Why then are there only "2.9 million millionaires in America and 8.7 million millionaires worldwide in 2005" (Wikipedia: Millionaire)? Maybe because long hours, risks, and failure are not exactly what we want to deal with in this short journey called life. After all, these are way outside our normal comfort zones. We prefer easy money, get-rich-quick, and winning the lottery.

Then there’s the responsibility that comes with being rich. You’ll need to continue spending more time and energy to protect and nurture all that wealth. Affluence does come with a hefty price tag.

But if you really want to be a millionaire, here are valubale hints from one who's been-there-done-that:

If you want to be rich, first stop being so frightened

Just Say No

I have a new weight maintenance tool. I call it the “Just-Say-No“ technique because all you have to do is say, “No, thank you.” You don’t have to measure and weigh what you eat; you don’t have to take some funky pills; you don’t even have to exercise! How easy is that?

By responding, “No, thank you!” during potentially weight-maintenance-damaging situations, you can lose from 100 to 1000 calories every time. And you won’t even feel it! Here are the opportunities you can cut off those calories.

At the theater concession stand:
“Would you like butter with your popcorn?”
“No, thank you.” [Lose 220 cal.]

Also at the theater concession stand:
“Would you like to make your soda a large for just 25 cents more?”
“No, thank you.” [Lose 100 cal.]

At the coffee shop:
“Whipped cream?”
“No, thank you.” [Lose 150 cal.]

At the burger place:
“Would you like to supersize your order for just 99 cents more?”
“No, thank you.” [Lose 100 cal. on the soda, 500 cal. on the fries.]

With the boys:
“Another beer?”
“No, thank you.” [Lose 120 cal.]

At a party or at home:
“Second helping?”
“No, thank you.” [Lose 300-800 cal.]

For dessert:
“How about a vanilla milk shake?”
“No, thank you.” [Lose 1000 cal.]

Simple. A calorie refused is a calorie lost. Intake your calories wisely, is what I say.

So, next time someone asks you to an all-you-can-eat too-good-to-pass-up buffet apply the “Just Say No” technique and save yourself a few hundred hard-to-burn calories.

For more information on calories and how much effort you need to put into burning them (hint: you have to walk the dog for a little over an hour to burn the butter you added to your popcorn): Calorie-Count.com

Caimito and Chico

The two fruits I terribly miss out here in the US: the sweet and soft purplish caimito (Star Apple) and the sweet and grainy brown chico (Sapodilla).

My brother and I grew up climbing the caimito trees fronting our house. We had our own favorite branches where we’d while away the lazy afternoons of youth… almost like waiting for the fruits to ripen right next to our faces. Just sit on a branch, reach for a shiny tender one or two, and gorge away.

Friends and neighbors passing by would see us lounging on the branches; we’d pitch them as many ripe caimitos as they could carry. Most of the time, Papa would be at the foot of the tree, catching fruits my brother and I tossed down -- our very own version of "playing catch."

I remember though, that I never ate the Star Apples piled high on our dining table fruit basket. Not even the ones cooling in our refrigerator. I only ate caimito that I had just picked from our trees with my own hands -- fresh, organic, pesticide-free. Good old days.

Our chico tree was a different story. The tree itself was too dense to lounge in, plus it hosted the life cycles of all kinds of bugs -- spiders, mostly. You’d have to work your way through webs, ants, and aphids to get to the good branches, and then you’d have to literally go out on a limb to reach the fruits. The chico tree taught us how to pick fruits from the ground, using a really long stick rigged with a wire loop (to snag the fruit) and a bag (to catch the snagged fruit) at the end.

Ah, memories of long ago and far away. Our parents were the best; they made sure my brother and I had a wonderful childhood growing up alongside an assortment of fruit trees.

Oh yes, we also had guava, mango, tamarind, santol, avocado, guyabano, and kamias, all lush and fruit-bearing in our yard. I have poignant stories about each of these trees. I’ll write them one of these days.