It's a truth universally acknowledged that

the moment you decide to focus, an array of events come your way bouncing in all directions.

I’m having a big important life change coming up, and I need to focus on getting things done to make this change as smooth as possible —or at least be prepared for the speed bumps and pot holes.

On Sunday night, one of my best friends calls to tell me she’s coming from Mexico City to visit with her family and another friend with her children to spend 3 or 4 days of the coming holiday weekend, and to see if I could make reservations for a hotel for them. They all really liked it here back on my birthday when they came. We all had a good time. It’s ironic that I was actually planning on going to Mexico City for this holiday because it’s the BEST time to visit it: everyone’s away, and you have the city to yourself. I actually stuttered when she told me her plans because I’d have to change my previous plans and lose focus, but especially because I wish she had told me earlier that they were thinking of coming. It’s all right, tho; they’re really good friends, and I love them dearly and their three girls, and they have done so much for me, and I have probably done worse things than this, so I should just lighten up. They want to see a few things around here, so it will also be a good opportunity for me to do some photo excursions that I have been postponing. Yet this still feels like I’m losing focus.

Then, within the hour, my mom calls. She had previously added herself to my upcoming traveling plans, but this time —out of the blue— she says, “well, since you’re not coming with me…”. “What are you talking about?”, I replied, thinking to myself that she was the one supposedly coming with me, “The idea is to go together but I said we need to contemplate and oversee other things to make a good plan”. And she just bursted saying things and not letting me talk, and then she just hung up on me. She does this often, and as much as I’d like to “get used to it”, it still bothers me her lack of respect and her inability to hold a discussion —which inevitably she turns into an argument. I’m not going to write here about the complexity of this trip and the added complexity that she was bringing to it —and for my saneness, I’m trying to simplify it as much as possible and lighten up about it—, but my mom fails to see all the details behind it.

But well, that phone call settled it, and to each her plans. I’d like to think that this will be one less thing to worry about, but I know this will come back later on when I’m even busier and closer to my deadline. My mom —like many others moms, I suspect— is a specialist in just that.

And if that wasn’t enough, today —after coming back from changing my dad’s car tire that blew up when he hit the curb yesterday— he tells me that he’s been offered a house and wants to move because he’s sick of the firecrackers and bonfires that plague our town. So I’m almost laughing as I’m typing this: it now seems that I’ll be moving before I move out!! OK, now I’m laughing!! :D

Now, focus, Luna, focus! And lighten up! You’re just beginning to get nervous about it all…

See more progress on: focus

March: more like a hiatus month

It’s the end of the month, and this is my first post. This month started OK, but several things occurred —particularly my trip to the beach with my aunt which came out of the blue, then postponed, and then postponed again, and which drew my schedule off, as well as my good intentions and plans.

Anyway, it wasn’t a complete loss. I have continued to stretch and do calisthenics at least five times a week, but I do need to crank them up a bit. For April, I’ll be doing twice as many repetitions (in the two-a-day fashion). I also have been waking up consistently earlier, but I have not reached my goal of rising with the sun. Of course, how can I achieve that if I’m here writing this at 2:15 am?? Next Sunday starts DST, so that’s going to throw off my sleep-wake schedule out the balcony. It’ll take extra effort to make it work.

So, in general, I didn’t feel I was in a boot camp, but more like a leisure hiatus. April must see some real discipline or else I’ll feel very disappointed with myself.

See more progress on: March Bootcamp: Lifestyle Spring-Clean!

Pasta al pesto

For my friend’s birthday lunch, I cooked an invented pasta al pesto. I had previously prepared the pesto, but I thought of adding some shrimp and mushrooms.

The prepared pesto was delicious, but it had to be spread over twice the pasta anticipated. Also one of the guests helped with cooking the shrimp and mushrooms which came out somewhat bland, lacking that “kick”. I knew it even from before, when I was watching how she cooked them. It wasn’t my kitchen, so I had to play along, and I was too tired to impose my will.

The dish came out OK, but not great as I would’ve wanted. Lesson learned: no matter how much they insist because they believe they’re experts and that you need their help —and even if it’s not your kitchen—, never let anyone help in the kitchen if their knowledge of cooking has been made clear when they ask you if the flan is ready after just 25 minutes in the oven… and then again at 40 minutes —didn’t they hear the first time that it takes at least an hour??

Oh, well, but at least the company was great!!

See more progress on: try a new recipe every week

My first time in my life

^{The tent facing the Popocatépetl volcano}

The closest I’ve been to camping was about 15 years ago when I stayed overnight in a camper with friends. But this past Saturday, it was in an actual tent. Granted, it was in front of my friends’ home, but they live in the farthest house of a very small town out to the open country.

So maybe it was not actual camping, but, after 43 years, this is the closest I have gotten, and it doesn’t seem that the real camping will be happening any time soon, so I’ll mark this goal as done.

See more progress on: go camping

This year

is that point in my life.

I feel I have not prepared enough, and things have began to drift me in other directions. But I feel that if I don’t do this now, it won’t be occuring any time soon. Even if I don’t make it there until New Year’s Eve, I need to focus all my energy on making it happen.

See more progress on: live in France at some point in my life

Focus

I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I’ve been shuffling around with creativity, health, fitness, work, career, transformation, discipline, moving, European, simplicity, lightening, productivity, motivation, connection, focus, rebirth, renew, completion, family, friends, adventure, balance, mindfulness… I could go on…

It’s already spring, and it’s about time I make up my mind. Many of these words should be a byproduct of the one word I choose. Many won’t be, and I will have to work on that, too.

Lately, I’ve been thinking that exactly 18 years ago, I was working very hard on getting my thesis done in order to be able to graduate from university. I knew if I didn’t do it then, I would never do it. By January, I was still drifting and not knowing what to do, but by February I focused all my attention, and I knew I could do it. I studied, worked, investigated, read, ate, slept thesis. By early April, the first complete draft was finished, and by early May I was done.

This is the one time I remember that I worked very hard to get something accomplished and with one goal in mind, and I never drifted for a second in those four months, and it’s one of my proudest achievements because it let me finish one of the most important cycles of my life.

So 18 years later, I find myself in the same situation. Only this time I have let myself drift longer, and now I’m running short of time. But I know I can do it. Things have already started to happen that are moving me in other direction or that are boycotting my main plan. I need to focus on my main goal of the year and do all the things I need to do to accomplish it. I need to move it from my resolutions list to my life list.

My one-word resolution for 2010 is focus.

See more progress on: Have a one-word resolution for 2010

Haiku #31

Distant fiery skies
reminiscent of Mordor
but alluring, too

See more progress on: write haiku on fridays

My brother once told me

“The real waiters are not the ones found in restaurants; they’re the ones found behind a camera.” This I have found —again and again— to be very true.
Yesterday, on my daily evening walk, I got very excited when I saw the clouds and what looked like a very promising sunset:

So I climbed up the pyramid to see the sunset over the volcanoes:

...and then I waited… and waited... and 20 minutes had passed, and it seemed that the only exciting colors had already passed and were fainting in the lower left corner:

“¡Glorious clouds, what a waste!”, I thought. I was disappointed.
I was about to climb down after another 6-7 minutes, when a faint pink began to color the clouds. “Hmmm, will it get brighter, or is this it?”

“I might as well wait a little longer…”

::no words::

...and I stayed until it faded away…

See more progress on: Remember that things only happen when I get up, get out, and make them happen

2010.03.25

• I’m beginning to be fond of my neighbor goat. He got loose yet again and was roaming free on the streets and getting hold of everything he could eat.
• Being back on my lil’ ol’ Mac.
• Spring cleaning!

See more progress on: enjoy life

Thank you all for participating!

I hope you have a delightful spring with the inspiration of your avatars and everyone else’s.

I’m leaving this avatar week with Quetzalcóatl’s spring fire on the pyramid stairs to ignite my motivation and to light my way in this new season. Cheers to you all!!

See more progress on: celebrate Spring-Equinox Avatar Week: March 17–23

Happy belated birthday, "Nudey"!

Don’t know where I read that “Nudey” nickname, but now it’s my favorite!! So here’s to you —a little late, sorry— a birthday wish for a wonderful year!

In case you’re wondering, this is a closeup of yesterday’s (your birthday) sunset in my town. I think the deep-orange clouds have a sensuous feel to them, and I thought you’d like them :)

PS – And sorry you’re now leaving the wonderful 43 years of age… onto another 43 years more… :)

See more progress on: Wish my birthday twin (revengeofnudefreedom) a happy birthday on March 24th!

Happy belated birthday, Jen!

A tad late, sorry. I hope you had a wonderful day in the company of Max. I don’t have any pug photos, but I know you like butterflies, so here’s one from my town to yours. It was fluttering about on the first day of spring :) Cheers to you for a great year to come!

^{PS – We’re not birthday twins, but I feel we’re like “pet twins” ;)}

See more progress on: Wish My Birthday Twin Jen (halo_101) A Happy Aries Birthday on March 24th

This is getting better

but I still need more discipline and follow a program.

I’m getting to a point where I actually cannot go to bed late. A couple nights ago, I had a pending job to do, and I forced myself to stay up till 2am. I really struggled to stay awake.

Still, I want to go to bed before midnight and wake up before dawn…

See more progress on: Early to bed, Early to rise

I've been doing this at least five days a week

My bones are complaining less, and my muscles are giving in more. I just do a simple stretching routine combined with calisthenics. Even though I’m marking this as “done”, I’ll continue to do this until I take up yoga —which will be later on in the year.

See more progress on: stretch daily

#1 down

I have many, many projects that have some degree of advance, or none, but here I’ll tackle the ones that I have committed with others, be them clients, or volunteering, or family, or friends. The projects committed with myself I shall list in a different goal.

Last Friday, after two years, I finally handed the final documents of a small design project that just dragged itself all this time. It was both-sides fault really, but we finally did a “sprint”, and the project is over.

In this case, the feeling of marking it off surpasses the feeling of accomplishing it! And I have the feeling that it shall be the same for many of my list.

I’ll make a first draft of pending projects to have more focus:

• CG logo refining and stationery DONE
• VCM menus: currently working on this
• JE vet: need to recontact, he never sent last revision
• S vet: need to recontact, he never sent last revision
• PP: hasn’t replied email
• JLC: check status of business cards
• MS: present portfolio with proposals pending
• M&I: bookbinding journal
• ST: postcards Virgin of Guadalupe
• JC: postcards volcanoes
• AC: calendar
• CC: check status posterized poster
• AT: ask him again to send his work for his postcard design
• 43T: select a Cholula photo and begin my postcard project

See more progress on: finish projects I have been procrastinating over

Zucchini bread

A couple of weeks ago, I tried the Zucchini-Bread recipe on epicurious.com. I did a couple tweaks, and it still came out deliciously moist… mmmmm…

My changes to the recipe were:

• adjusted baking powder for altitude
• substituted allspice with clove
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• substituted walnuts with pecans

See more progress on: try a new recipe every week

Last avatar of the week

A couple of hours after the equinox, a butterfly was fluttering around on the street looking for water, as I later found out. The only available was a puddle on the curb, the yin yang of beauty and ugly. Along with me, two children were also fluttering around the butterfly and observing its splendid beauty amidst an otherwise gray street.

See more progress on: celebrate Spring-Equinox Avatar Week: March 17–23

Equinoctial sunset 2

Today’s avatar is this sunset taken on the 20th. I love how the volcano projects its shade towards the sky.

See more progress on: celebrate Spring-Equinox Avatar Week: March 17–23

Ritual of the Dance of Quetzalcóatl

As part of several events this week in my town, yesterday took place “The Dance of Quetzalcóatl” as a ritual to observe the equinox and welcome spring.

It was an interesting dance with beautiful costumes and fire burning around. The only unfortunate thing was the very poor lighting they had. It felt very much like a very-low-budget light & sound show that made no justice to the dancers who offered a good show. But you could barely see them; the fire behind was brighter. However, they ended the ritual all dancing with torches in hand and, with the spectacular venue with the pyramid (on the right of the photo with the fires) and the volcanoes in the background just after sunset, I was left quite motivated to let the spring begin!

See more progress on: Acknowledge and Celebrate Spring Equinox 2010

Equinoctial sunset

Today’s avatar will be the sunset of this year’s equinox. It was taken on the 19th, but it’s within the 24-hour range of the equinox.

See more progress on: celebrate Spring-Equinox Avatar Week: March 17–23

Out of my Mac

Yesterday, my Mac’s battery died when I was on a cheer-giving spree. I did not understand why it happened because it was plugged in. Ah! But then I noticed that the power cord was not making the right connection, and I noticed that its protective plastic had cracked, and the wires had lightly pulled apart, and they were making no connection. I’m thankful it didn’t make a short and ruin my computer!

My Mac will turn 5 next June, and this is the first time I have a problem with it (and it really is a problem of wear and tear). So I’m lightening up and not make a big fuzz about it, even though I’m now working on my dad’s computer (a PC :P), and the keyboard is driving me crazy, and all the type on the screen is hideous (not to mention the interface!), and I cannot find where to darken the screen that’s killing my eyes from so much brightness (the keyboard button is not working and the control panel doesn’t have an adjustment thingie anywhere). But at least I installed Firefox for my dad which he will hopefully like better than Explorer.

I’ll have to see about fixing the cable or trying to get a new one (hard to do for such an ‘old’ computer). I hope I can accomplish this tomorrow, because I can’t access anything on my Mac for work. So I won’t be posting much here until then. I’ll see about updating my avatar for the equinoctial goal and maybe a couple other things, but I feel alien to this computer.

But it’s really not bad my situation, and it will give me time to do other things :)

See more progress on: lighten up

Equinoctial avatar

My favorite bird, the pelican, was flying North in flocks along the coast just last week. I guess —with springtime coming— they’re searching other latitudes. I must’ve seen over a thousand pelicans fly by; many flocks had 50 of more. Beautiful spectacle!

See more progress on: celebrate Spring-Equinox Avatar Week: March 17–23

My 4343th cheer

went to saraband14 for her lovely Friday haiku —which reminded me I haven’t written mine today!

And this I achieved on the same day that I, too, received 4343 cheers :o)

See more progress on: give 4343 cheers!

Haiku #30

Flocks of pelicans
fly above along the coast
swarming in the sky

See more progress on: write haiku on fridays

My 4343th cheer

went to saraband14 for her lovely Friday haiku —which reminded me I haven’t written mine today!

And this I achieved on the same day that I, too, received 4343 cheers :o)

See more progress on: give 4343 cheers!

Equinoctial avatar

My favorite bird, the pelican, was flying North in packs along the coast just last week. I guess —with springtime coming— they’re searching other latitudes. I must’ve seen over a thousand pelicans fly by; many packs had 50 of more. Beautiful spectacle!

See more progress on: celebrate Spring-Equinox Avatar Week: March 17–23

On my walk up the pyramid today,

I noticed some workers building a stage on its base. I’m suspecting there will be some sort of celebration for tomorrow’s equinox.

I’m now recalling seeing a group of dancers after they had performed for the past solstice in December, so I can just assume it will be something similar, a dance ritual based on our indigenous past. I would think it will be at 11:32am local time, but I must check earlier just to be sure. I’d really like to see it.

See more progress on: Acknowledge and Celebrate Spring Equinox 2010

She might be unaware of it,

but KimberGreene just gave me my 4343th cheer a few minutes ago for my Spring-Equinox-Avatar goal.

This cheer came in just before I give my 4343th cheer —I’m just a few cheers short.

Thank you all who have contributed towards this number and for cheering me up in my goals and accomplishments :)

See more progress on: receive 4343 cheers

On July 11, 1991

I had the fortune to experience the most spectacular natural wonder I have witnessed so far in my life. Few times have I been in such awe. I still remember the date perfectly! I was lucky that the eclipse path ran through the city I lived in at the time (Puebla, Pue.).

More impressive than to see the sun fully blocked by the moon is to see the night coming to you from the distant horizon at a vertiginous speed and turn everything to darkness. Unlike shade, this was like a very dark dusk almost into the night. There was a sudden surreal silence —in the middle of the city. Animals were uneasy as this phenomenon had caught them off guard. You could then hear the roosters sing in their pre-dawn fashion. And then after some 3-4 minutes, again from the distance, full daylight came dashing and chasing the darkness fleeing in the opposite direction…

^{I took some decent shots on film, but this incredible event has been permanently engraved in my mind, and I will always remember it despite having the photos :)}

See more progress on: See a total solar eclipse

Improving

As of the past 2-3 weeks, I’ve improved on my waking hour —not so much on my sleeping hour. There’s still room for improvement, but at least I’ve had the chance to watch a few nice sunrises plus having early walks with Uma.

See more progress on: Early to bed, Early to rise

Spring Equinox is also Autumnal

I want to apologize to our Southern-Hemisphere 43Ters for the unintentional bias of this goal for us in the Northern Hemisphere. I was just reading the preferred standard of usage in Wikipedia, and it’s better. It’s too late for this one, but I promise to word it better for the next equinox or solstice goal :)

For today’s avatar, cherry blossoms in Seattle, March Equinox 2007:

See more progress on: celebrate Spring-Equinox Avatar Week: March 17–23

March 20th at 17:32 UT (Universal Time)

Let’s celebrate the beginning of Spring when all places of the Earth are equally illuminated for 12 hours of daylight and darkened for 12 hours of night.

I’ll start my avatar week with a sunrise on the sea:

More info on the equinox

See more progress on: celebrate Spring-Equinox Avatar Week: March 17–23

Joining in! The equinox is just around the corner...

I’m also celebrating with a Spring_Equinox Avatar Week.

Thanks for posting, flowergirl :)

See more progress on: Acknowledge and Celebrate Spring Equinox 2010

Sunset #43

Saying goodbye to this project with the last one of the lot.

The low sun setting behind some palm trees. Casitas, Veracruz, March 14, 2010.

See more progress on: Photograph 43 Sunsets

Sunset #42

The sun setting behind the palm trees opposite the sea. Casitas, Veracruz, March 13, 2010.

See more progress on: Photograph 43 Sunsets

2010.03.17

• A relaxing few days away at the beach, feeling the breeze, walking and rejoicing on the sand. Time to do nothing, il dolce far niente.
• Being back sound and safe with renewed energy to work on the month’s tasks.
• A delightful dinner with my good friend and her husband and her daughter.

See more progress on: enjoy life

Rural-urban town

This morning on the corner of my house during rush hour, there was a cow roaming free. They’re two of them and are usually tied up in an empty lot in front. He first went to one side, not enough grass; then went to the other side, still no grass and cars were rushing by. Then he headed to the trash dump in the corner; it didn’t look appealing, but he spotted some tasty-looking bushes in the house next door. A goat —who also became loose and was scavenging in the trash— decided to go after him and mount him! Of course, the cow just pulled away and continued his search for more food in peace.

The entertaining surrealism of this town is never-ending.

See more progress on: explore the city i live in

2010.03.09

• I was enjoying the rural-urban life of my town, when I turned to Uma and took a beautiful back-lit shot of her :)
• Waking early for the second day in a row! I get to accomplish so much more.
• Watering my garden. I still have a few vegetables that survived the winter. The poblano peppers are finally giving fruit. I also tried to turn the compost pile, just to find it was excessively dry; everything was like petrified! I turned as much as I could, and I watered abundantly. I need to keep this one more moist. This is a very dry climate, and I underestimated that.

See more progress on: enjoy life

Plan and be more careful

I’ve been changing passwords as I’ve been bumping into them. I’ve found I need to plan because some are dependent on others. For example, I changed this site’s and I changed my blog’s, but I forgot to update the password in this site that connects to that blog. It wasn’t that bad; I only had to backup about 15-20 posts. I still had to change again my blog’s password because 43T doesn’t take anything but alphanumeric characters.

See more progress on: strengthen all my passwords

The night-owl resistance

I didn’t have a sound sleep last night, and, without the alarm, I was awake at 6:40. I opened the curtains, I took out my camera, and at 6:43 I took this photo:

This is what I miss most days. I was tired, and my eyes were puffy. For a second, I almost got back into bed, but instead I dressed and went for a morning walk with Uma. How could I miss the opportunity, the luxury (like metafora77 said) of the early morning?

Though people are already burning stuff since before dawn, there is a certain quality to the morning air that you just want to fill your lungs with it.

I know I’m a night owl —I’m typing this at 12:15 am—, but I feel so much better when I’m a morning person, and, somehow, my day feels better, too.

This goal has been in this list forever —I already have accumulated 63 cheers! Why do I give in every morning and miss the beauty of nature, the healthy morning air, and the plans of a day ahead?

See more progress on: Early to bed, Early to rise

Thanks everyone for participating!

This was fun to do! I was very pleased with this year’s winners and the ceremony was very entertaining.

My favorite moments were:

• Sandra Bullock winning, and her speech was so eloquent and beautiful.
• “Up” winning for best animated feature and best score! I love the music :)
• The dance routines for the five nominated scores. Wow!

The worst:

• What was wrong with George Clooney last night? He did not seem happy to be there.
• The hosts had a few good jokes, but they seemed a bit off rhythm.
• Why did they assign James Cameron and his exwife seats so close? That is not a kind thing to do. Not that there’s anything wrong with being ex-spouses, but they were obvious contenders for similar awards, and you could just see Cameron’s displeased face as Bigelow was standing up award after award.

See more progress on: have my favorite nominee as an avatar in the countdown towards the Oscars

Haiku #29

25
Uplifting color
orange cadmium yellow
happy sunflowers

See more progress on: write haiku on fridays

2010.03.05

• Remembering the miracle and the fragility of life. I came across a motorcycle carrying a young man and three boys. I barely had the time to unzip my bag and get my telephoto out to get the shot. You can only see three, but the fourth one —the youngest— is in front of the driver —the one with the red cap and who was in his late teens/early 20s. I don’t know if wearing helmets would’ve made a difference at that point, but one of them was carrying a bat to threaten the dogs that chased them! And this is not the first time I see something like that, or the second. Sometimes I’m amazed that the incidence of accidents is not higher.
• I got a lot done from past projects. They’re advancing towards completion. I need to close those cycles that have been lingering for ages.
• Mango season is here!! My most favorite ultimate fruit in its fleshest, most delicious variety: Ataulfo! Hmmm, I’m going to make myself a shake now…

See more progress on: enjoy life

Not to do on a longer book

which should be savored and enjoyed. But the short ones like “Le Petit Prince” or “Jonathan Livingston Seagull”, however insightful, don’t take longer than an afternoon… yet the pleasure lasts for years… :)

See more progress on: read a book in a day

Alternate breathing

I’m not doing too well with this. Sometimes I feel I have breathing insufficiency. When I’m practicing the alternate nostril breathing technique, many times I breath through my mouth or even have to yawn because I can’t take enough air through one nostril. So it’s become a little disappointing.
Of course, the quality of the air in this town is very low, and people burning trash and garden refuse all over do not contribute to a healthy environment. Therefore, I think it’s of utmost importance to be more aware of my breathing and do it through the nose to at least filter a little bit.

See more progress on: learn to breathe

Item #12: tools & power tools and miscellaneous items

After a succession of moves, especially in my adult years, I’ve collected a series of tools and power tools. Either I don’t need them anymore or they won’t work with the electricity of the place I’m heading to.
These are the first ones to show up, but I know I have more. They will most likely end up with my mother or brother —whoever wants them; actually, one of the power tools is my brother’s— or else I’ll sell them in a garage sale. My mom has told me she wants the secure door locks that I never installed. Sometimes it hits you when you realize the money you’ve spent on items that you didn’t use or underused :S

See more progress on: 2009: Identify and Rid Myself of 43 Items of Überclutter

2010.03.04

• Bumping into a fresh harvest of sunflowers in the nearby fields. I got two flowers for $17 pesos —the spare change I had in my pocket (about $1.25US). The farmer asked for $10 each, but I didn’t have enough for two, so he said, “Está bien, que sean 2 por $15 —pa’l chesco” (OK, make it 2 for $15 —for a soda). I laughed and gave him my $17. His wife and his daughters laughed, too :)
  ^{“Pa’l chesco” is very colloquial here in Mexico. It’s short for “para el refresco” when someone just wants a small tip.}
• Spending time at my aunt’s today. Our trip to Veracruz was supposed to be today, but it was postponed until Monday because she was feeling very lousy yesterday. Today she looked much better :)
• Zero cheers available today :( I guess that means I’ll get an early night…

See more progress on: enjoy life

43 flags waving on my profile

Fi-nal-ly!

After three months, I collected my 43 flags. And that thanks to someone who’s currently traveling in another country, or else who know how much longer I’d have waited…
So here’s the map of the first 43 countries that have visited my profile:

Thank you all who have visited! This makes the world a much closer space :)

See more progress on: Get 43 flags on my 43T flag counter :)

Day 94: +1 = 43 countries! Yay!

43. Hong Kong

See more progress on: Get 43 flags on my 43T flag counter :)

Happy alohariffic birthday, sherishiraz :)

Purple and silver metal papercuttings dance and swirl celebrating your birthday :)
I hope you’re having a fantastic birthday, SheriS. And cheers for a wonderful year to come!

See more progress on: Wish SheriShiraz an alohariffic birthday on March 3!

2010.03.02

• Venus setting behind the Popocatépetl volcano. We were coming back from our daily walk, and there it was. So unexpected! I knew it couldn’t be Jupiter because it had recently passed behind the sun unto the morning sky,but I hadn’t paid attention that Venus is now rising into the evening sky. Oh, so many beautiful evenings to come! :)
• Riding my bike and doing a mini photo-excursion trip around town.
• My aunt “invited” me for a long-weekend trip to her house on the beach. Well, it was more like asking me if I could accompany her to check out the house, as it seems that someone broke in and took quite a few things :( She doesn’t seem too upset, but she did seem to want the company. She mentioned a bunch of activities to do to convince me to go with her —like I need any convincing to travel anywhere! So I’ll be packing my bags tomorrow, and despite the incident and checking everything out, I hope it turns out to be a nice time together :)

See more progress on: enjoy life

Falafel

I’ve been trying quite a few new recipes lately. This week, I tried falafel. The recipe didn’t say how many servings, and, since I had never made them before, it was easy for me to just dump in 4 cups of chickpeas which, after cooked, turned to about 8!!
So, like someone here suggested, I ended up with a “mammoth batch” of falafel preparation. I think I’m going to freeze some to make a falafel party later on. I don’t know how well it freezes, but I can’t take anymore chickpeas. And I do like falafel, but you can like it only so much…
^{I might have mentioned too many times the word “falafel”, but they’ve really gotten into my veins! I know this will make me laugh when I think in retrospective!}

See more progress on: try a new recipe every week

Half way

I changed to a larger needle (a circular one), and I’m about half way there. I haven’t really dedicated myself too intensely to this, but it’s coming about. I don’t know if it’s because the circular needle stretches the knitting, but the hat may be a tad too big :S Oh, well…

See more progress on: knit a hat

26 Things: February 2010

I decided to start this goal when I came across it a day after I had taken a rainbow picture. I thought to myself that I had probably already taken the hardest one of the lot —yeah, right—, and so I embarked myself in this very fun project to complete. Some photos are for laughs, others to think about, and others just are.
Here’s my array of photos:

Building structures with the Popocatépetl volcano in the background.

More like playing “chase”.

My dog Uma coveting a cat on the neighbor’s roof.


Working hands.

An eye that never gets to see the outside world.

These two really fancy each other.




A stack of egg cartons under the hot sun.

Dogs line up for a female in heat.





A brand new license plate for a not-so-brand-new car.


An owner set up his dog on the bike to take him to the vet.

You could hear the blasting music 10 minutes away from here.


Sometimes the full moon rises behind the church.


Garden disposals are burnt after visitors are gone.

See more progress on: complete a 26 Things Challenge