Two shooting stars

It seems my quota for this year’s showers is two shooting stars per shower! And neither were on a peak night. Not only was it cloudy this morning, but it was raining! That was the last chance to catch a view of this year’s Leonids. Oh, well…

Yet, it was worth with all the anticipation and excitement, like Julie said. And I’m really grateful that I didn’t get bit by a snake on my walks out in the dark of the night —we found a lethal one dead in front of the house the next morning ::gasp::

Most of all, I’m grateful for all fellow 43ers who joined the goal and for their enthusiasm :) Till we join again for the Geminids in December —which appears to be more of a spectacle—, cheers to all!

See more progress on: watch the leonid meteor shower

Cloudy but one more chance!

Well, it was cloudy this morning —as I see was the same luck with many—, but forecasts indicate that tonight shall still provide some shooting stars to watch.

Anyway, do not despair or wait till the Quadrantids in January! The Geminids are just 3 weeks away, and the forecast here indicates a whopping visibility of 130+ meteors/hour in the countryside, and 50+ in the suburbs! But that shall be another goal… ;)

See more progress on: watch the leonid meteor shower

Well, sort of... :P

I came in today and peaked a bit!

See more progress on: take a break from 43 things

An almost moonless night

The moon will be setting when this year’s shower peaks, favoring us with dark skies to allow us to gaze at this famous meteor shower: the Leonid.

The peak is forcasted to be Nov. 18th at 3h UT. We should expect 10 to 15 meteors an hour under dark conditions.

Clear skies to everyone! :)

See more progress on: watch the leonid meteor shower

For a little while...

I’m taking a break from 43 Things. I have much packing to do and an imminent flight departure. I need to focus on that in spite of the temptation that can lure me back to 43 Things.

I’ll be back in a couple of weeks or three. See you soon, Seattle :)

See more progress on: take a break from 43 things

Behind

I’m really behind in this, and I leave on Wednesday for a couple of weeks! Most things have to be packed by Tuesday, and I’m not even 10% done :P I was thinking of taking a break from 43 from Wednesday on, but I might move ahead that goal.

See more progress on: pack up and move

2007.11.11

I’m grateful for:

1. My beloved Uma
2. My beloved departed Gala
3. My beloved A
4. Another year of life
5. Forty-one years of people, places, things, and blessings :)

See more progress on: Daily: Reflect on 5 things for which I'm grateful.

Haiku #5

I will soon travel
From haiku I’ll take a break
Bye, Friday Haiku

See more progress on: write haiku on fridays

2007.11.09

I’m grateful for:

1. Birds and the sky
2. The moon and the sun
3. Order and chaos
4. Yin and yang
5. Balance

See more progress on: Daily: Reflect on 5 things for which I'm grateful.

2007.11.08

I’m grateful for:

1. My sense of wonder: this time observing a teeny baby slug inspecting a coriander seed
2. The workout I got from clearing all leaves, vines, and dead plants from my front garden, sidewalk, and street —plus the sense of accomplishment
3. Nice weather for gardening and clearing
4. Making a list of to-dos before my trip and not keeping it all in my head
5. Getting some packing done

See more progress on: Daily: Reflect on 5 things for which I'm grateful.

2007.11.07

I’m grateful for:

1. My ever-patient Uma waiting for me while I check out a couple books from the library
2. Making flight arrangements and having more focused traveling plans
3. Funny, hyperactive dogs at the off-leash area in Magnuson Park —Uma is not grateful for this :S
4. The harvest from my home garden
5. A passing his “Food Handler’s” permit

See more progress on: Daily: Reflect on 5 things for which I'm grateful.

Cheeeeeeeese! (rated 4 stars)

Wallace & Gromit - The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Widescreen Edition)

by Steve Box

Awesome animation, awesome story. Cheeeeeese! ;)

See more about Wallace & Gromit - The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Widescreen Edition)

2007.11.06

I’m grateful for:

1. The versatility of duct tape and the ingeniousness of people to use it for everything!
2. People who let their dogs mingle with others while they’re walking or at the park
3. Uma meeting an older Retriever/Lab with whom she played and ran for a little while
4. Returning overdue items at the library :P
5. Being able to gather some info I needed —still need to work on it this week

See more progress on: Daily: Reflect on 5 things for which I'm grateful.

From my patch

Voilà my crop of pumpkins for the 2007 gardening season. I’m already late for Halloween, but I was late on planting them; I had a late harvest. Of 11 pumpkin plants, this season yielded only one and a half plus a quarter green one not fully matured. Yet Ru’s project inspired me to try and carve this little one as well.

See more progress on: Carve a pumpkin

2007.11.05

I’m grateful for:

1. Spectacular Autumn views of Mount Rainier —it shows up clear in the horizon almost every day
2. A lazy day of movie-watching
3. Kettle popcorn
4. Leftovers, mmmm…
5. Shifting our clocks back to regular time (without daylight savings)

See more progress on: Daily: Reflect on 5 things for which I'm grateful.

News about Leschi Marina

Today’s view of Mount Rainier at dusk.

See more progress on: Leschi Marina

2007.11.03 (belated)

I’m grateful for:

1. Uma’s peaceful and comfortable sleep —she’s such a spoiled bum ;)
2. Enjoying a short walk with Uma, in spite of twisting my ankle while doing so :S
3. For our catering event that went smoothly and the hosts were very pleased
4. My ankle sort-of-healing before our catering event
5. My ankle and feet enduring the event

See more progress on: Daily: Reflect on 5 things for which I'm grateful.

Fi-nal-ly!!

After dragging this goal for several months, I finally watched episode #52 which for some reason does not appear in the lineup of reruns on tv (?). So I rented the DVD, and I completed the list of episodes. I’m done! Not that I’m happy that the show is done, but that I’m finally checking this goal as done :)

See more progress on: watch all episodes of arrested development

Happy Belated Birthday, La Tordue!!

This photo was taken from a poster that reminded me of your avatar. Hope you’ve had a nice day complete with Mimi, champagne, liquorish, and the Gentleman Animus on your red couch!

See more progress on: Wish La Tordue and the little girl in the corner a wonderful birthday on November 4th complete with Mimi, champagne, liquorish and the Gentleman Animus on her red couch.

End of season

As November has entered and as I’ll be moving out of this house by the month’s end, I can declare gardening season officially over for this year. I already started cleaning up everything and marveling at the seeds the plants have produced, coming to a full cycle.

With many more plants cultivated than fruits harvested, I can still mark this goal as “worth doing” and a “good harvesting season” despite my rookiness. I did better with herbs than with vegetables, but I got good advice from fellow 43ers and good readings that will make the coming year a much more successful experience.

See more progress on: grow a garden

2007.11.02

I’m grateful for:

1. Honoring our dead with their memory
2. The memory of my dog Gala
3. Setting up a little altar for her
4. Remembering to write my Friday Haiku and dedicating it to her
5. Browsing through her photos to choose one and remembering all the good moments we had :)

See more progress on: Daily: Reflect on 5 things for which I'm grateful.

Haiku #4: For Gala

November second
Every year we celebrate
The Day of the Dead

This is the first time
It’s in remembrance of you,
My sweet dog Gala

You were a blessing
In me is your memory
I’ll always love you

See more progress on: write haiku on fridays

2007.11.01

I’m grateful for:

1. Another beautiful day with a clear view of Mount Rainier —this photo unfortunately does it no justice :S
2. The great workout from mowing all the lawn and raking most of the leaves (I have no more containers to put the never-ending falling leaves!!)
3. Getting ahead in the preparation for Saturday’s catering
4. The pipián coming out delicious!!
5. Jamiroquai’s music

See more progress on: Daily: Reflect on 5 things for which I'm grateful.

Small library

This is not my closest branch, but I just happened to drive by and had a book to drop, so it was quite convenient.

What surprised me a bit was that it seems to be recently renovated; however, of all the branches I’ve visited, this one is the smallest by far.

But I appreciate that the Seattle Public Library is making every effort to bring books and other materials closer to people’s homes —even if the branch comes in a small package ;)

See more progress on: Seattle Public Library - Montlake Branch

October √

October is coming to an end in a few minutes, yet I had my new and fulfilling experience early in the month. Stumbling upon an unannounced Kool & The Gang street concert was extraordinary! :)

See more progress on: enjoy Fall 2007 by having one new and fulfilling experience in October, November, and December

2007.10.31

I’m grateful for:

1. Raking leaves: gives an appreciation of seasons, of closure, of cycles —plus it’s great exercise
2. Leaves falling… and falling… even while we’re raking them, a coffee mug is not safe!
3. The “crushing” sensation when walking on dry leaves
4. Getting most of the shopping done for Saturday’s catering
5. Halloween spirit on Broadway in Capitol Hill —admittedly not that different from Broadway’s everyday scene ;)

See more progress on: Daily: Reflect on 5 things for which I'm grateful.