Follow the Leader

So, it's kind of funny because on one of the blogs I follow, Jess mentioned that her sister just became a follower of hers (I will explain more later). In her post, she asks if her sister knew about "following" and didn't do it on purpose, or if she had just found out about it. I had been thinking about doing a post about following a few days ago, so it was funny that she has some of the same questions as I do.

I always wonder if people are reading what I am writing. I assume not, and am okay with that. I mean, I just like to write, to get my memories and thoughts down before I forget them and to keep kind of a journal/log of my travels. Sometimes I have an opinion and rather than make everyone at work listen to me, I put it on here and you can read it if you are so inclined. But I still wonder -- are you inclined?

I really have no way of knowing who is reading...like I said, I assume not a lot are. Until I go to visit my best friend and her mom says, "So, how was San Diego?" and I think, "how in holy hell does SHE know I went to San Diego?" Well, I did post it and apparently she DID read it! And that makes me feel good. Even if I am not completely sure she or other people are reading, I sometimes get a little boost from time to time.

In case you are like Jess' scenario A and you just don't know what the possibilities are, I am going to tell you a few. You can go to http://www.reader.google.com/ and then enter in the sites you like. The reader will keep them all for you and tell you when a new post has been posted on your favorite sites. You can also link to your reader by just clicking "follow" -- on my site its on the left. See those 4 people there...oh and one of them is me; I don't know how that happened! Oops. I guess I felt sorry for myself.

Another option is if you look at the top of this page it says "follow" "share" "report abuse". You can click any of those. If you click follow, again, that too will take you to your Reader (no Mom, not "take me to your leader"). You don't have to use Reader, but I am hooked on google -- this blog is owned by them and it all just links together so well. All you have to do now is check your Reader from time to time and it will tell you who has posted new posts since your last visit.

You don't have to follow; you can also subscribe. This also uses Reader (for me -- you can use any other feed reader). Just click the link at the very bottom of this page. It says "subscribe to: posts (atom)".

You can also forgo all that and just leave nasty comments on the posts. At the bottom of each post is a link that says "0 Comments". If you click on that, you can tell me to shut up or leave me a note if I need to pick up bread from the store tonight.

So, you still don't have to read anything, follow anything or comment on anything, but now you if for some reason you wanted to, you know how.

PS This is my 200th post. Stats: Started in April (ish) 2006, 4 years, approx 50 a year, approx 1 a week. If you haven't read any of them, you have saved approximately 5 minutes a week of your time, or 1000 minutes in the last 4 years.

Image taken from: Boldt (found using google images -- see, it's like a cult)

Awesome Dude!

This guy is an awesome photographer. His name is Clark Little and he shoots in Hawaii. You can see more of his stuff here. This is one of my favorites. I love turtles.

Randoms

I was driving to work today and every lane was going the same speed. Three lanes, all going 58 MPH. I hate that. And there were miles of empty highway in front of them. I just couldn't get to it. I think getting over to the proper lane so people wanting to go faster than you CAN is not only a rule but a simple courtesy. I finally  passed the guy who had been camping in the left lane (I had to pass him on the right) and I tried to give him a really dirty look but he wouldn't look my way.

Yesterday I went into the lunch room to get a cup of coffee. There are three pots. All of them had about a millimeter of coffee in them. All three pots were on. The lunchroom smelled like burnt tar. I eeeked out about 2 inches of coffee into my cup and made three new pots of coffee. I went back a half an hour later. All pots were back to the millimeter point. I think there are about 4 people who make coffee and 400 people who drink it. I am going to sit in the lunch room and give people dirty looks if they don't make coffee when it's getting low.

My best friend is having a baby. Its a girl!! (yay!) That doesn't seem weird to you, but I still see her at 17, wearing converse and sneaking off to the river at night after her mom told us not to. She's going to be a great mom. I am totally going to go see her and spoil her daughter. I mean, isn't that what Aunties are for?

I think the IT department at work is reading everything I am writing...Hi guys!!! I wonder if they purposefully look at certain people's computers becuase they are more entertaining. If that's the case, I should be safe. I saw a guy looking at porn at work once. I mean, he couldn't wait until he got home? A little creepy if you ask me. Okay, a lot creepy.

When I sent out my Christmas cards last year, I sent them to people in 24 states and five countries. I think that is cool. Not cool like "look at me, I am cool" but just fun! I hope to someday sent one to someone in every state. I better get a move on. I need to meet some people from Alaska. Here are the states I have. AL, AR, AZ, CA, FL, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MA, MD, MN, MT, NC, NJ, NV, NY, RI, SD, TX, VA, WA, WV. Where are you from? Is your state missing? Do you want a Christmas card?

So, do you have any driving pet peeves? Work pet peeves? Do you write Christmas cards to more that 24 states? Lets hear it.

Coffee-Pot Cookin'

I thought I was the only one that did this until I was talking with a co-worker about nifty ways to have coffee while you hike and camp. He mentioned an article he read about “100 things you can make with a coffee maker” (I googled it, but didn’t find anything). Then I told him (a bit hesitantly, I mean, how old am I?) that sometimes I make top ramen in my hotel coffee maker. He counter-responded with this website about “How to Cook Food in a Hotel Room”. Then I told him about this article I had just read about a guy who got laid off a year ago and has been living on his hotel points.

I guess what I am trying to say is….maybe all this traveling for work isn’t so bad after all. First, you cook eggs on your iron in your hotel, therefore gaining valuable hotel points. If you get laid off, you can use them to live. And you can always take these tips and use them at home once you get back on your feet.

All kidding aside, it is hard to try and save money when you are on the road. It’s hard to save money, it’s hard to eat right, and it’s hard to make time to exercise. I have eaten more Top Ramen, carrots with hummus (substitute for salad) and Lean Cuisines in the last few years than I did in the entire quarter century before that. These are not exactly the healthiest foods. However, you do what you can with a microwave and a mini-fridge, IF you are lucky enough to even have those. Otherwise, you eat coffee-pot Top Ramen.

Having said that, I am totally a point whore (excuse my mouth, Mom). If there is a promotion for extra points at a certain chain, I will go there. If it means checking in and out every couple of days, I will do that. If becoming a “frequent flyer” (Platinum, in hotel speak) means getting a free breakfast and/or happy hour, I will stay at a hotel for 75 nights so I can get a 4 dollar “free” breakfast. It may seem silly, but it pays off. I used my hotel points to fly first class to the Philippines four years ago. When I was in South America, it was a treat to stay in a nice hotel (for free) after staying in dingy hostels the rest of the time. The benefits are great, even if the getting there is hard sometimes.

I guess the bottom line is: coffee pot ramen is really not that bad.

photo: taken with my iPhone: Mama P and the Coffee Pot Ramen (May 2009)

Photos -- On the Map!

Hey, I got a couple of my flickr photos on a website with attractions in San Francisco! Deeee-lighted!

Subject: Schmap San Francisco Tenth Edition: Photo Inclusion

Date: 5th March, 2010

Hi Kyria,

I am delighted to let you know that your two submitted photos have been selected for inclusion in the newly released tenth edition of our Schmap San Francisco Guide:

Baker Beach

Fort Miley Golden Gate National Recreation Area

Adventures In Miniature

I have taken a couple of weekend trips over the last few months and I finally got some of the photos online. Here are the links below:

San Diego for a nice bike ride and some beach walking.
Massachusetts here and here. Boats and Farms oh my!
Montreal (Oh, Canada!)
Maine for some more coast, boats and lighthouses.
Home for some gardening with Mom and Dad.
Pacific Coast, CA for some gorgeous views, cliffs and the Mighty Pacific!

And I posted this below already...but I took a drive around the 9th ward and here are a few more photos of that.

Reading Is Cool

I am always looking for new books to read and I stumbled over this site - The Busy Bookworm. I am going to attempt to read her suggestions this year. (I have already read Her Fearful Symmetry, but I think the rest are new for me). I also have a book club in New Olreans that I have been to a couple of times, and usually keep up with the reading. The next few months worth of books for that are:

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See (March -- I am already late)

Nine Lives: Death and Life In New Orleans (see review in post below)

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown


The Busy Bookworm reading list:

To Be Read:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

The Leaf by Jo-Ann M. Rodriguez

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Does anyone have any thoughts or comments on any of these books? Or do you have any other suggestions of what to read? I am always looking out for a good book!
 
Currently Reading:

Honestly, I swear.

The idea behind this honesty scrap is that you say 10 things that your readers may not know about you. Then you tag 10 of them (the ones you like and want to know more about!) and they do the same. Jess awarded me with this one.


To be honest (ha.ha. get it?), you could probably learn MOST of these things if you read all of the below blog posts, but since there are hundreds of them, and you are all very busy people, who has time for that? I will summarize so as not to bore everyone TOO much. Also, for those of you just visiting this blog for the first time (WELCOME!), I have to apologize in advance – I used to keep it up pretty regularly. I was passionate about things; I had adventures to share. However, with the picture-taking, work, travel, working out, sleeping and most importantly, eating, I have been totally slacking! I am ashamed. Whatever. On to the honesty part.

1. I grew up in a small town in Northern California. 5000 people total. My graduating class was about 90 people. Everyone knows everyone and don’t you dare do a Chinese Fire Drill on Main Street because your mom will know in about 3.4 seconds and you will be in trouble before you even get home.

2. In High School, I was on the ski team. A) Yes, I said a ski team B) Yes, we DO get snow in California. My favorite was the GS (the long fast course). I hated doing the slalom. Before every race, I would get butterflies and the whole time going down I just wanted it to be over with. I don’t really like moguls either.

3. I am homeless. Not in the hippy-panhandling-on-the-streets-of-Berkeley kind of way. In fact, for a homeless person, I really can’t complain too much. I travel for work anywhere from 300-342 days a year and when I am not traveling for work, I don’t have a job. This means I live out of a hotel when I am traveling and I sleep in my Mom and Dad’s guestroom when I am not. I did the math and there is no use paying a mortgage when I am only home a few days a year. Thanks to Mom and Dad’s Guesthouse, I am saving money to buy my dream home. I am doing it very slowly though. That brings me to number 4.

4. I spend pretty much all my money on travel. Not the 342 days a year of work travel, but fun travel. I work to travel. Will work for vacation. And all that jazz. When I am not working and sleeping at M&D’s Guesthouse, I am staying in hostels and seeing the world. I love it. I may never buy a dream house because I am living my dream right now.

5. Right now I am working in New Orleans, and have been on and off for about four and a half years. I still don’t consider it home. My “home” is San Francisco.

6. I have one brother; he works at a winery in Sonoma County, CA. All I can say about that is: free booze. I want to say for the record that I love him very much. Just saying.

7. I am in my 30s and I still don’t know what I want to do with my life. If I could be Samantha Brown or Anthony Bordain, I think I would be pretty happy. Anything that combines eating, traveling, taking pictures and writing would be nice. Dream on, right? Until I find a job like that, I will sit in an office, gaining weight and pushing papers. Hey, it allows me to travel. I am not knocking it.

8. Random Fact: EXACTLY two years ago, I was in the EXACT place in Chile where the earthquake hit. If it happened on this day in 2008, I may have been in trouble. Interestingly enough, I was also in Thailand EXACTLY a year before the Tsunami hit the place where I had been.

9. I am hoping to go to South Africa for the World Cup. Not to actually go to any games (they are thousands of dollars a ticket) but just to be there, in the hype. And of course I want to see some lions and tigers and bears, oh my.

10. I have hiked the tallest mountain in the continental US. I was 16 and I hated it until I got to the top and realized what a cool thing I was doing. If I ever have kids, I will probably make them do it too.

Now, lets hear what are your 10 things we don’t know about you?

Lucy
Becky
KOS
M. Hassan

There are many more people I would love to know more about (and some that already got this award...so I will leave them out, but love their blogs) but it is getting late and I am tired and I have not even posted my picture of the day yet! Keep up the good work people!

Come Back

I took a photo drive around the 9th ward the other day. I know most people think that New Orleans is "back to normal", but it is not. Sometimes it is things such as the fact that many schools are not up and running, nor will they ever be, at least not in the same way they were before. Sometimes you still see trailers, sometimes roads are closed. And...the fate of the 9th ward is still up in the air. Brad Pitt is there with his green architects, building houses that look like they belong in a different city. But that is not what I am talking about.

Some people have renovated, if their house was still standing. Some houses have been torn down and only the slabs remain. And many are still standing, empty and sad. Here is a photo collage of some of them.

Here is one of the Pitt Green Houses.

Do you think New Orleans will come back? Will it be better than before or will it have lost something along the way? Do you think the 9th ward will come back?

February Book Club

Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans. This book is actually for the April book club meeting, but it was available in the library first, so, I got into it early. Dan Baum writes about life in New Orleans, from the 60s on to today, from the perspective of nine different people. I really enjoyed it. You get a glimpse into what it was like living in the 9th ward, the Garden District and New Orleans in general. This city has a lot of history and Dan Baum tells it in a fun and interesting way. Also, since I am here because of Katrina and each character tells their story of that day, of that time, I get a little more insight into how it would have been to have to live through that disaster.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars. A good read.

King Cake

It's Mardi Gras time again and the king cake is flowing! If you don't
know, there is a plastic baby inside and whover gets the baby has to
buy the next king cake! Fun times had by all!

365 Day Project

As I mentioned before, Lucy posted a blog regarding the Shutter Sisters and their One Word Project. They also do another project, which is to post a photo a day for 365 days. I went searching, and many people are doing this. And I like it! So...even though there may be weeks where I am away from the computer and may have to do a few in a bunch, I think most of the time I can keep up with this. And I like to take pictures and always need more experience doing so. So, Lucy, sorry to copy you with this one, but it's such a fun thing!

Please check it out: My Eye on Things - A 365 day view on things, one day at a time.

I Need a Distraction

Word Play - First Word: Bored (donated by Ruth)

Bored: (wikipedia definition: Boredom is an emotional state experienced during periods lacking activity or when individuals are uninterested in the opportunities surrounding them. The first record of the word boredom is in the novel Bleak House by Charles Dickens, written in 1852,[1] in which it appears six times, although the expression to be a bore had been used in the sense of "to be tiresome or dull" since 1768.[2] )

I decided to make bored my first word, since part of the reason I am doing this project at all probably has something to do with boredom. Not that I am experiencing a “period lacking activity” nor am I “uninterested in the opportunities surrounding” me, but more that I am looking for something new to try. So, does that mean I AM “uninterested in the opportunities surrounding” me? Or am I just unaware of them? It could be that I am interested in ALL the activities surrounding me. It seems like the opportunities surrounding each of us are infinite; we only have to find them and attempt them. This project is an “opportunity surrounding me”. I just didn’t know it until I went looking for it.

The antonyms of boredom are “excitement, diversion and amusement” (from Dictionary.com). We each seek out these things. However, my idea of excitement, diversion and amusement are different from many people’s ideas of the same. I am diverted by reading a book. Many people may say THAT is “boring”. I am excited by The Discovery Channel’s “Planet Earth”. Many would find that “tiresome or dull”. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure and one woman’s boredom is another’s amusement.

I think these days, people become bored more easily than before. We have surrounded ourselves with so called “excitement, diversion and amusement”, namely through the internet, computer and television, that when we have an absence of these things, we are “bored”. Since when is riding a bike, playing a game, talking with your grandmother, eating, cooking or reading boring?

I am at a place where I am not sure where I am going or where I am trying to go with my life. I want to eventually find something to do that I love, but I am not sure what it is so I am on a continuous search for something “exciting” and lasting. I don’t consider myself bored. Confused maybe. Unsure. Hopeful. And distracted. We just moved to a new office where instead of a cubicle with high walls, we have an open room with low tables and even lower partitions. You can sit at your desk and see each and every person that walks by. Every time someone goes by, I catch a movement in the corner (or middle) of my eye and I have to look up to see what it is. Then I look back down to my work and I can’t remember what I was doing before. So I move onto something else.

The same thing happens with the internet. We are getting used to distracting ourselves with endless information, each thing segueing into the next (cooler) thing, that we never really finish doing any one thing completely. And this is why, when we take ourselves away from the internet, we get “bored”. Our synapses have stopped rapidly firing. Our eyes have to focus on one thing only. We have to wait for satisfaction. Boooooring, right?

Maybe I have been watching too much Julie and Julia (both of them are looking for something to do to combat boredom in their lives and turn to cooking, blogging and writing a cookbook). Is it in our natures to be unsatisfied (or as wiki says, “uninterested”)? We are always looking for more money, a better job, a cuter hairstyle or something more “exciting”. Will we ever stop and say, “That’s enough; I am satisfied now”? Or is our thirst for amusement what keeps everything in the world moving forward, what keeps us striving for knowledge, for love, for happiness and for life?

Maybe we will never cease to be bored. And now that you mention it, I wonder, is that really such a bad thing after all?

Note to readers: The words “bored, boring and boredom” were used 16 times in this document.

January Self Imposed Read

If you haven’t already read it, read The Time Travelers Wife, also by Audrey Niffenegger. I read it and loved it, which is the reason I decided to read her most recent book, Her Fearful Symmetry. This book is set in London and is about a ghost in a flat near Highgate Cemetery. It is a pretty fast read, interesting enough, but without the pizzazz that The Time Travelers Wife had. When I read The Time Travelers Wife, I couldn’t put it down. I was at my parent’s house for Christmas and I was sleeping in an unheated room in the winter time and I still would lie in bed with my arms and head exposed and freezing cold, reading it until the wee hours of the night. This book is good, but not that good!

I also read Julie and Julia which if you haven’t already heard, is about a young girl just about to turn 30 who decides to cook every single recipe from Julia Child’s famous cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. In one year. Five hundred and some odd recipes, each with pounds and pounds of butter all cooked within 365 days. And she writes a blog about it.  But the book is about more than just her adventure. It is a story about a girl who has hopes and dreams but is not sure what they are or if she will ever accomplish them. She is bored of her job, her life and her apartment. She takes on a task, a meaning of life, something to look forward to. Its not an easy one; she has some trials and tribulations, but you like her more for them. She is human. She is all of us. I liked her. She makes me want to cook every recipe from MtAoFC. I give it 4.5 stars.

Word Play

It’s not that I don’t have anything to write about, but I wanted to branch out, to write about something other than travel, food or weather. Yup, most of my blogs are about one of those three topics, either directly or indirectly. So, I thought, why not get some suggestions from someone else, to see if I can write about something else, or if the things that interest me, namely eating, traveling and commenting on the weather, really are the only thing I can elaborate on. Also, researching/finding out about new things is one of my favorite things to do and this will give me knowledge about things that I may not have known about before.

My inspiration comes from Aunt Lucy, who tipped me off about the  Shutter Sisters, who are photographers who are doing a project called The One Word Project. They give you a word every month and you send in photos associated with that word and they post a photo a day from someone who has sent one in. If you get a chance to check out their site, do so, it is very fun. Lucy is also doing a project where she takes photos of things with words on them and posts one every day, which is also really interesting (check it out here). So I guess 2010 is the year of the word.

I will take their idea and add a twist – I am asking people to send ME “one word”, whatever comes to their mind. Once a month I will write about one of the words that have been sent to me. Obviously, I am not going to steal the Shutter Sister’s name or project, so this will be the Word Play project. (Version 2k10). –

Central Park in The Snow

 

I took this as the sun was going down and the snow was starting to fall. It reminds me of Christmas and so much more! You can see more NYC photos here.

January Book Club Read

So, the January book club read. One by Jodi Picoult, who, if you haven't yet read, is DE-PRESS-ING! However, I am always looking to learn something new, and this book taught me a little bit about osteogenisis imperfecta, otherwise known as "brittle bone syndrom". However, one can only handle so much strife, even though it does provide insite into what it may be like having to be a parent in such a difficult situation. I give it an "okay" but not a "great".

As a side note, I finished the Hemingway and am not in a hurry to read another.

Next up: its a toss up --  Skinny Legs and All, Her Fearful Symmetry or Julie and Julia. What do you guys suggest?

December Book Club Read

I am almost done. I should finish tonight. However, I am not quite sure that I like the way he writes. I feel like I should becuase he is "one of the greatest writers of all time". However, although I like what he writes about, I dont like the WAY he writes. Pamplona just isn't as exciting to me when Hemingway is the one telling me about it. We will see if I change my mind in the next 20 pages.

You can find out what else I have read and suggest books for me on goodreads.

Magic in The Air

As Kermit says, there is magic in the air. The magic in New Olreans is a little different than the magic at home, maybe becuase of the lack of cold and snow. However, decorations have been put up and people at work are going out for last minute Christmas dinners before we all fly away to our respective homes. I, for one, can't wait to go home and sit in a warm room with a view of the snow outside, drink coffee, chat with the Mom and Dad and watch...Christmas movies! I have been getting in the holiday spirit by watching clips on youtube. I have included one below for your viewing pleasure.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Viewing Pleasure

I was reading Lucy's blog the other day and I really liked Lucy's idea of checking to see the "most viewed" on Flickr. It seems sort of fun to see what the "invisible people" out there are interested in (or just need to see more clearly, I guess). So here is what I found.

This was the most viewed, with 244 hits:

Tarshier - World's Smallest Primate

This one, which is probably one of MY favorites, was second "most viewed", with 177 hits (maybe because it has the word "naked" in the title?):

Tan Naked Man

The next category is "favorites". People can add your photos as one of their favorites. I personally am not very highly followed, but whoever is following me must be a tad perverted, becuase the most favorite is.... "two asses".

Praia de Barra: Two Asses

 

So....of all the landscapes, foreign cities and beautiful vistas.... you see what people really like? I think, judging from Lucy's site, that tagging the photos makes all the difference in the world. I guess I need to get on the ball....or the tan naked man.