2010-03-31 Chop This

I'm not really a do-it-yourself type of gal most of the time. But I do hate to pay extra for slicing services when it comes to fruit. That's why I couldn't resist buying this pineapple and deciding to slice it myself. It's so pretty. And I hear these aren't hard to grow. But with vacation a couple of weeks away, now's not the time to try. And I usually kill all my plants anyway. But until I cut into this one, I'm enjoying seeing it in the fridge.

2010-03-30 Shrooms

I've been trying to improve my eating this year...more raw foods, less meat, a LOT less sugar. I gave up drinking my precious Coca-Cola and added a lot more fruit and veg. And it's a good thing, but I have definitely spoiled my tastebuds over the last 39 years. Sometimes I just crave something sugary. I keep reminding myself it's my mind and not my body that needs it. But it's hard to be perfect all the time. I try to compensate by eating a lot of my favorites...I love mushrooms. I could eat them every day in some fashion, so I put them in everything. Makes me love the dish even more. I know tons of people who hate mushrooms and I cannot even fathom it. I heart them. I need them. I've gotta have 'em. So if you don't like mushrooms...are you going to eat those? Can I have them?

2010-03-29 Sailing On(e)

I was pottering about downtown today. Nothing major, just errands and stuff. It's crappy and blowy out there and no one wants to be cavorting in the unusual Florida weather.

Well, at least it looks like one boat was willing to brave the chop on the water. Because when I took this picture, I had to ask myself, "Where's number 1?"

2010-03-28 Party Time

Nobody parties like a baby...

Me and these guys can testify to that:


Went to my friend's daughter's 2nd birthday party. Was great to catch up with friends that I only see a few times a year. The birthday girl was all over the place, playing with kids, playing with toys, swimming...it was fun pandemonium.

Plus there's nothing better than cake...

2010-03-27 Flowers on Show

I went to the Naples Flower Show today just to take pictures. I don't have any plants. I kill everything I try to keep alive. It's a miracle the dog is still living. But I can appreciate what others do with plants. I respect it. I just can't replicate it.

It was a great, warm day and the smell of the flowers and plants was amazing. I even sat to watch a lady do a demonstration of re-potting orchids. I know, I know...I got carried away. I'm happy with a lot of the pics. Some are just so-so. Anyway, enjoy!


Here's the whole slideshow:

2010-03-26 As the Romans Do

This is my plan for the evening.


This book was recommended to my by a lady I met a few weeks ago. She said she and her husband hired this man to tour them around Rome, and he was wonderful. I've read the first few pages and it seems interesting so far...it's not a guide book per se, but rather an exploration of Rome through his life story and daily activities.

So, I'm off to curl up for the evening.

2010-03-25 Pillow Talk

I created a monster. I know. It's my fault.

I thought I was recycling when I decided not to buy Pippin a new sherpa pad for his crate. "Just put an old pillow in there that you're throwing out..." I said. Right.

So now, this is what my dog thinks pillows are for. They are for resting his tiny cute white head. They're not for me. No no no. Not for me to sleep on...they're for him to rest his hard-working head. Enjoy, Pippin.

2010-03-24 Lessons

I signed up a for a "how to" camera class at the local photo shop, and I have to say, it was great. We spent 4 hours talking about all the different settings.


I learned quite a bit. Not sure if all of it stuck, but at least there are some things I think I can do better. One example of something we learned was White Balance. With white balance you can tell the camera how to show whites in their proper state. So in this example, I took a pic of the same set of lights, but when I change the white balance setting, picture 2 shows a more realistic image of the actual colors, while picture 1 is too warm and doesn't capture reality.


Ultimately, the idea is to try to capture what your eye sees, and now I think I have some better tools do to that.

2010-03-23 Laundry Days

I'm just standing around this laundry room, looking at the pile of clothes left to be put through the wash, and wonder why I keep up my bad habit of waiting for the laundry to pile up to the ceiling before doing the wash. Now, I have a pile of laundry to hang and fold. My most hated household job.

I'll just stare out this window, shall I? Yes. That'll make it better.

2010-03-22 New Camera

I got a new camera for my trip to Paris and Rome. I got the newer version of my old Panasonic Lumix. I love that camera and really just wanted a couple more MPs and more zoom. Saw a great price for it, and jumped on it.

I think I have finally decided that I should only take this one with me instead of my big Canon Rebel. I just know that with this kind of trip, I want to be able to tuck my camera away and not have to carry something larger. So far, I'm super-happy! Now, on to Europe!

2010-03-21 I'm Whole

Getting down to Whole Foods in Naples is such a pain, so I hardly ever go. But I love that store. Just going through the personal care department could be a half-day affair for me.

I thought to get down there with a friend, and we ate in their little restaurant. Lovely. Delicious. And oh so far away...sigh. Will just cuddle up now with my brand new bars of Dr Bronner's Lavender Soap.

2010-03-20 The Juice

Today was our Junior League Kids in the Kitchen event. It's a half-day of events around educating children about making better nutritional choices in order to reduce childhood obesity. It's a national campaign and all the Junior League's have a similar event in their cities. Our was done at a local community center, and we had all kinds of tents where the kids got education about nutrition, got to make their own food, and there were also some exercise areas and a fun-run. It was really good.

It was a gorgeous day...and did I take a picture? No. Not one. I was so busy working my booth, I didn't event get one shot in. Thankfully, the News-Press came and sent a photog, who caught great shots of the kids. (I'm not in them! : ) )

My job was to work the Sun Harvest booth. (Pics 3, 38-44) We got tons of fresh oranges and these cute little orange straws called "Squeaters!" I used to use these all the time when I was kid...we had citrus trees in the backyard, and I could literally pick the plumpest fruits and pop the straw in and squeeze all the wonderful juice out.


Sun Harvest is a local company who produces and sells citrus and it's sooooooo good. They only sell fresh-squeezed and the taste is divine. They also do fresh juice blends, and my absolute favorite is cranberry-orange. When you do to the Sun Harvest store, the best thing is...the tasters! You can get a little cup and taste all their juices from big dispensers in the back of the store. YUM!

At the end of the event, I scored one of the remaining jugs and took it home. Plus I took an extra Squeater...just in case I feel live reliving memories of childhood.

2010-03-19 Zootopia

I had a great day at the Naples Zoo and Gardens today! I took the afternoon off with a friend and her baby and we went down to the Zoo to check out the critters. I saw:

Pretty plants...


Beautiful parrots...


Prowling leopards...


Moneys that sit in trees...


Monkeys that sit in wooden houses...


And ones that walk on two legs!


And of course, pretty zebras all in row...


Here's the whole lot:

2010-03-18 Good Morning Mummy

I got a new camera and of course my first subject is my little puppy..."Good Morning Mummy! I'm going to be naughty today. Get ready! And where's my breakfast?..."

2010-03-17 Raising the Flag

After the performance of Quiet Heroes last Sunday, I realized there are two Iwo Jima monuments in this town. That's quite a lot for a small city, isn't it? One is in our main cemetery. It's a special area they've made for the burial of service people.

So I decided to check these monuments out sometime in the next few weeks. I stopped into the cemetery first.

Feels weird to go into a cemetery with no particular reason...not for a funeral or to visit a loved one. Makes me feel kind of odd, and I didn't want to be disrespectful, but I really wanted to examine the monument. I drove in after work and wandered over to the monument...from afar, you can see they did a sort of perfect reproduction of the original picture.


But of course, the picture only ever had a certain amount of detail, so the artist has probably had to compensate for unknown faces...


And sculpting the tangle of arms and legs and bodies that it took to raise the flag...


They didn't even know that the amazingly famous photo of the flag being raised over Iwo Jima was going to be so compelling...photographer Joe Rosenthal supposedly almost missed taking it. He just snapped the shot, threw it into a postal bag to Guam, where a technician spotted it and got it to the AP Photo Editor. It was distributed 17 hours after taking it, making it one of the most famous and recognizable images of the war.

The story of the men who raised the flag is sad. Three of them never even made it out of the Pacific, dying during the war. One died an alcoholic, haunted by his past, forced for years to "perform" for war bond drives. Another died in middle-age, never having collected on the many promises made to him by hangers-on, while he was famous.

The last was the only man in the picture to have lived into old age. John Bradley lived, had a family and a life...when he died his son, James, wrote the book Flags of our Fathers. It was only after his dad's death that he even found out his dad had won the Navy Cross for his actions. His father always said that the real heroes of Iwo Jima were the ones who never returned.

I'm not super-interested in military history, but learning this little bit of history about 6 men in one picture made me realize this is only one story of many that we'll never know about war.

2010-03-16 My Purse

I don't think it's any surprise that in the last year a lot of people I know have been pinching pennies due to the economy. I'm incredibly lucky to have a long-time job that I like and still find challenging, even after all these years. But I, too, am affected by the ills of the economy, being a bit upside down on my house (ie, its worth less on the current market than the mortgage owed).

I'm only very slightly upside down, but I know some people who are $100K in the hole and wonder how to dig out. Me...I'm just trying to keep my finances in order, and one of my goals this year was to increase my savings account and possibly make headway in paying my car off early.

But all this economy and stinginess in my spending is somewhat of a bummer...I do love shopping. And in the past, there have been times I've indulged a bit too much. When I used to live near the Bridgewater Mall in NJ, I could hardly stop myself from stopping in on the way home and checking out the sales.

These days I don't live very near the nice mall, so I don't have that temptation, but I would love to go on a spree. Sometimes you look in your closet and you just see old old stuff, and right now, I could really use some new clothes...don't get me wrong, I have a million garments in my closet, but they feel wrong. Like they're not for me anymore...like someone else bought these clothes. Often I find I don't have the clothes I need for certain occasions. I've given away a lot of clothes to Goodwill over the past 5 years since I moved to Florida, but it's left me with a "non-functional" closet...no more nice suit for networking lunches, not enough casual dresses for nice dinners out, shirts and shorts that have been worn over and over.

But I'm not sure what to do...do I jump in and just get what I need/want or keep focused on my goals for continued financial success? I think I need to keep my financial goals in line. I will be so much better off in the long run.

2010-03-15 Skim

This one's for my pal Skim:



Now, I never see a car out there with Neets on it. Just sayin'

2010-03-14 Quiet Heroes

I went to an awesome performance of the Southwest Florida Symphony tonight! It's a show called Quiet Heroes. Described as: A musical tribute in honor of our veterans to mark the 65th Anniversary of the battle of Iwo Jima, featuring Chris Brubeck’s “Quiet Heroes” – a narrated symphonic suite based on the book Flag of Our Fathers.

And it's narrated by....Wilfred Brimley! Yes, of Quaker Oats and Cocoon fame!



It was extremely moving, and at some point, they asked all the vets to stand up and I got a little misty because they were all OLD! (This is Florida, after all). And then later they put up the house lights and asked if anyone had served in Iwo Jima. And there WERE!! I freaked out...very very choked up to see the old boys stand up.

It just makes you realize that WWII vets are really almost gone. It reminds me of the mini-series where the last confederate war veteran was dying. Even know, I think of Vietnam vets as being young, and they're really not. (Just like I'm not!)

Anyway...it was a great show and we saw it from beautiful loge seats that my friend got us.

2010-03-13 Pictures of My Muffin

Here's take 2 of my attempt at food photography this week. A bit better han yesterday. What a pretty muffin. And I made it myself! From a box.... : )


I'm thinking I need to set up a little photo "area." My friend Karen has a catering company and is also into photography...the other day, while at her restaurant, she showed me her food photography setup. It's great. She took a few pieces of foam core and put them on her counter. Then she draped some stretchy light-colored fabric over the area and attached two construction-lamps to the cabinets above the counter. She puts the food in the middle and ta-da...pretty food pictures. I might need to try this with a few dishes I make. I can always eat the mistakes.

2010-03-12 Food Fotos

I love looking at food blogs...bloggers like The Pioneer Woman, Bakerella, and Smitten Kitchen are among my favorites. I love their recipes but also love their ability to make the art of food look like photgraphic art as well.

I don't think I'm in their league yet...but then I guess I should find something more attractive to work with.

2010-03-11 Rain Gutter

This came off my roof all day today:

It's been incredibly dry...the leaves from my giant oaks falling all over my house and lawn, leaving the branches naked and trembling in the chilly Florida night. But now, the rain has swept every leaf off the roof and into wet disgusting piles all over the place. I will pay good money if you come rake and bag these suckers.

2010-03-10 (Un)Lucky

Do you know some people who seem to win everything? Their names are pulled for every doorprize, they're the 100th caller of the local radio station, they're hitting the jackpot in Atlantic City? I'm not that person.

I can scratch the tickets, pull the lever and throw my name into the drawing, but it never seems to be me who wins. I'm like the guy in that movie, "The Cooler." In the film, William H Macy is such bad luck that the casino pays him to sit next to high rollers. Two minutes next to Bill and your winning streak is over.

These tickets were much the same. But I can't help loving a little gamble. So I will scratch again.

2010-03-09 Speak Easy

I went to speak to a group tonight and it didn't go well. Normally I have no problem with public speaking, but I got interrupted three times by servers delivering meals to the people I was speaking to, and I completely kept losing track of my speech. What a crap method of providing food to a group. The waitress literally asked the meeting coordinators to stop the speech so she could find out who wanted the Chicken Pot Pie, and they DID! I was boiling.

I left after my bit was done, and just stood in the parking lot beside my car trying to remember what the hell I said. I hope it was cohesive. All I could remember myself saying sounded awful. So I got out my camera and took some pictures of the houses around the country club. My car was under a beautiful canopy of a fern-like tree. I started to cool off and drove home to forget it...just another memory of feeling stupid that I can erase from my data-bank.

2010-03-08 I Need Your Support

I've been wearing the foot brace my doctor gave me for the past few days, waiting for my appointment to get my custom orthotic made. I can't believe the difference it's made. Already, I can feel an improvement in my foot and the heel pain is almost non-existant. Brilliant!

It's not pretty but I don't care. Only thing is that getting used to it for the first few days made me wonder if it was cutting off the blood supply to my foot. I got a little paranoid the first day. Every little prickle on my foot meant that my foot was clearly getting ready to fall off. Of course that hasn't happened...meanwhile I am looking forward to having the "real thing" made later this week. It'll cost me $120 but it's worth it if it's anything like this brace. Of course, insurance won't pay for the orthotic...they'll pay for the surgery if I keep jacking up my foot, though. Excellent logic.

2010-03-07 Oscar Treat

I'm having an Oscar night pig-out...eating a bag of Cheesy-Poofs. Yes, I love Cheesy-Poofs. They're delightful.

2010-03-06 White Falcon

I think I saw a while falcon today. My parents were visiting and we went out to lunch and just as we were leaving, we saw this bird perched on my neighbor's car.


My dad though he might be hurt. We tried to get a close look, and I got a few shots, but eventaully he flew off and landed on the roof of the house. He was holding up his left claw which made me think he probably was injured. I really hope he's recovering. He was beautiful.

2010-03-05 It's Alive...For Now

I kill every plant I own. This one has managed to stay alive outside despite me. Maybe the key is to pay absolutely no attention to plants. Apparently, I only hurt the ones I love...

2010-03-04 How Did THAT Happen?

I don't even know how this picture happened!


I was just out for some very chilly outdoor drinks with friends and took a picture of our groovy outdoor patio and somehow only a swipe of the image came through. WTF! Is my purse camera dying? Booooooooooo.

2010-03-03 Feets Don't Fail Me Now

I finally gave up and went to the doctor about the pain in my right heel. I've been to this doctor before back in 2007 because of a small tear in my Achilles tendon that seemed to keep re-injuring itself. I wore a boot on my left leg for about 3 months until the tear healed and now it's right as rain.

For the last year my right heel has been really painful. Sometimes it felt like a spike was going right up through the center of my heel. I started wearing my Cros flip-flops full time because they seemed to be the only really comfy shoes I could stand. But now that I'm going on this trip in April, I need to feel like I can walk as long as I need to. Hence, the doc. His verdict: plantar fascitis.

Here are my feet, both inside and out! It's plantar fasc-tastic!

Check out the wicked bone spur:


For now, we can stretch it and I have to wear an orthotic (probably forever - yuk). But if it's not better by the trip, I have to get a shot.

My other option is to do crazy amounts of stretches. So that's what I'm focusing on for the next month. A lotta "Downward Dog."

2010-03-02 Beads

It's been a slow week, work-wise. But busy personally. I had a lot out outings lately and my little jewelry box now has one big ball of twisted costume jewelry in it. I seem to pull stuff out of it and throw it back in, and now when I last tried to lift something out of it, everything was raveled up and it was literally a ball of beads. And the box is beaded too. So, yeah, too many beads.

2010-03-01 The Craft

I'm glad I went out for errands this evening. I saw a huge honkin' moon. My little purse camera can't capture the "bigness" of it, but it was like, "crush the earth" big.



Anyway, I was on my way to the craft store to get something framed. I got a great little line drawing when I was in Seattle this year during my trip to Alaska, and I wanted to frame it up.

But there are too many frames...


And too many options for framing it...


But I figured it out finally...I'll post when it comes in.

I had a brief wander around the store and just realized how many hobbies there are. Holy macaroni.

Just in one aisle, I noted that people like to make or paint little tiny furniture...


...and they like incorporate little flat wooden animals into their lives:


...some people like to make messages with big letters (hee hee).


I guess I can call photography my hobby now. Never had a hobby before. Hm. Finally, something I say when people ask, "So, what do you like to do in your spare time?" other than sleeping and watching tv. Ace!