Warning: Frivolous Posting Alert

Most of my posts are not meant to be terribly serious but with Basil reading me the latest news (failure on the latest “fix” to the BP oil spill, death of Dennis Hopper, etc.) – this post seems especially lightweight. But I’m going to continue continuing on because rambling is what I do best. Also, I have to hurry and get my post in for this month, so here goes.

As some of you already know, Basil and I have challenged each other not to buy any new clothes until 2011. To even out the playing field, (as Basil claims he could probably be fine with not buying any new clothes for the rest of his life besides underwear, undershirts and socks) he is also restricted from purchasing any new camera gear. To sweeten the deal, if one of us cracks and gives in, they owe the other $250 from their personal fund money. This challenge has been going on now since March and strangely enough I haven’t had any real urges to shop. Except for shoes. I could definitely use a new pair of shoes. I own lots of tall boots and as the weather gets warmer it’s becoming impractical to don these heat-trappers each morning. All I can say is thank goodness for air-conditioning, but I digress.

You’d think we’d be saving tons of money these days but I actually think I’m spending more. Feeling “rich” I just end up spending $ elsewhere but that’s another story. And this challenge is not so much about saving $ as it is about consuming less stuff. We spent a good chunk of time cleaning out our closets and even after unloading bags and bags of junk, we’re still bursting at the seams! There are a few things I had trouble tossing out and have posted here to anyone who would like to give these items a good home. Some I have actually never worn before but for some reason have held onto, mostly for sentimental reasons. And most items are outrageous or what I assume to be outrageous given Basil’s less-than-kind reaction to them but if you are drawn to any of these items, let me know and they are yours. (That is, if I am able to deliver it to you at no cost to myself.)

Skirts (starting upper-left, listed clockwise)
A. Striped skirt purchased in Brooklyn because Ji told me it gave the illusion that my very flat behind wasn’t so flat. (size small)
B. Banana Republic hot pink skirt bought with Jason Lee even though I distinctly remember him saying, “Where the heck are you going to wear that?” I think I’ve worn it once, maybe twice. (size 0, stretchy waist)
C. Laundry denim skirt that I purchased at a sample sale in NYC. Years ago. (size 2)
D. Sweetees pink skirt with sequins that I love despite Basil saying, “How old are we?” (size xs)

Jackets (starting left, listed clockwise)
A. Parallel green jacket, never worn with the tags still on. Very Matrix-y. (size 2)
B. Ebay purchase, must have been very late-night. I distinctly remember going through a J-Lo phase. Never worn. (size small-ish? no tags)
C. Adrienne Vittadini red bolero double-breasted jacket. Never worn. I just held it up to Basil and said: “I still kind of like this..” and he gave me a dirty look. (size 4P)

Any takers?

The real challenge will be at the end of July on a little trip to NYC with my girls, currently trying to find lots of non-shopping outings. Can’t wait to check out the Highline, hopefully not overrated?

One of my all-time favorite hymns is “It Is Well With My Soul” by Horatio Spafford. Not too long ago, Pastor Eric shared with us the story behind this song and though I have a sneaking suspicion I’ve heard it before, it’s brought about a renewed appreciation for this long-loved hymn. Through the good and the bad bumps in life, this is just a nice reminder that ultimately peace is found outside of our circumstances, and in this journey called life, “the sky, not the grave, is our goal.”

Here is the background on the hymn from the most dependable of all sources (ha) but useful most of the time – Wikipedia:

This hymn was written after several traumatic events in Spafford’s life. The first was the death of his only son in 1871, shortly followed by the great Chicago Fire which ruined him financially (he had been a successful lawyer). Then in 1873, he had planned to travel to Europe with his family on the S.S. Ville du Havre, but sent the family ahead while he was delayed on business concerning zoning problems following the Great Chicago Fire. While crossing the Atlantic, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with a sailing ship, the Loch Earn, and all four of Spafford’s daughters died. His wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, “Saved alone.” Shortly afterwards, as Spafford traveled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write these words as his ship passed near where his daughters had died.

(The least-distracting, though karaoke-styled, YouTube video I could find of the hymn. Hopefully you are able to look past this and the ads for Christian dating services.)

It Is Well With My Soul

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Horatio Spafford

What a rare moment. I am up at 7:30 a.m. on a Saturday and can’t fall back to asleep. Which is weird because my favorite thing about waking up early when I don’t need to is that sweet realization that I have more slumber time right around the corner! Grrr. Might as well squeeze in the blog entry for the month before March passes me by. Random early-morning thoughts:

1. Breakfast of Champions:
Oatmeal + Brown Sugar + Crumbled Bacon

Thanks D.Dennis for this brilliant suggestion, I now crave this every morning.

2. Screencap Tip:
Command + Shift + 4 + Spacebar

A camera icon will appear. Roll over the window you want to capture (highlights blue) and click. The window is captured with complete header, perfect borders, transparency around the edges with shadows and rounded corners. Great for showing web comps in context, tutorials, note-taking, the list goes on.

Comes in very handy and I have used it many times since discovering this off of H.Kong’s Facebook. I feel the need to share.

3. Blurb Books
So I started a post and actually left it up for a bit in June 2009 that said:

“We just received the package you sent along with the father’s day card and a picture. I was hoping for your wedding pictures. But I will be satisfied with this picture of you two.”

Translation: “Send me your wedding pictures.”

Such a delinquent “daughterie” as my dad calls me.

So I’ve finally started putting together a wedding book using Blurb.

My thoughts on Blurb:
1. The BookSmart Application is very easy to use and comes with an extensive template library. I had no problems tinkering around and figuring out how to use the app. One of Blurb’s main selling points when I was looking for a photo book publisher.

2. Cost:
Standard Landscape 10×8 inches (25×20 cm), up to 40 pages on Premium Paper: $36.95
Large Landscape 13×11 inches (33×28 cm), up to 40 pages on Premium Paper: $65.95

This cost is for the Hardcover with ImageWrap with all the added bells and whistles so you can save money if you go with fewer options. The Standard Landscape gives you the choice of a Softcover for about $10 less and if you go with a Dust Jacket instead of ImageWrap you can save about $2. Premium Paper came at an extra cost of $5.

3. Turnaround Time:
Ordered on 3/8/10 and Received on 3/17/10. Worked for me. Each book came pre-wrapped in plastic and in pretty good shape. One had a small little dent right across my face but could be easily ignored.

4. Quality: I chose Premium Paper but overall do not recommend using Blurb if you want a professional photo-quality portfolio. This was great for sharing photos with family and friends but some of the larger photos lost luster and definition. For a portfolio-worthy album, I would recommend looking into other alternatives which at first glance looks like it will come in at least double the cost. I’m planning on creating one more book – if you’ve found a vendor you like, please share!

Overall I would use them again for fun photo memory books or as gifts. However, if the goal is to show off some amazing photography I would definitely go elsewhere.

Wow, I thought after posting I’d want a nap but now I’m wide awake. Time to start the day, maybe with some bacon.

Believe it or not, taking a painting class was Basil’s idea – but I was more than happy to sign up! This was not my first attempt at painting, but it is my first finished piece! My first attempt (years and years ago) was a bit ambitious. I bought a huge 4ft x 4ft canvas and envisioned creating a beautiful cityscape masterpiece that I would present to my dad – but I never got around to finishing it. I would carry this huge square canvas and my paints a few long blocks over to Central Park or sometimes paint up on the roof of our apartment building. I remember it would blow over in the wind on the roof (tall building) or bang up against me when I would carry it back from the park. Sort of a disaster. Come to think of it, I think I left it for my roommates to dispose of after I headed West. Sorry about that, so irresponsible of me!

My second attempt was taking a painting class with Eunice at the Art Students League. Turns out, it was a nude figure-painting class, something we managed to overlook in the class description. So we brought our own subject matter and painted against a backdrop of nudity, the most memorable of which was a man who looked like Santa Claus. I cannot for the life of me remember what I was painting. I do remember leaving all of my art supplies in the locker and never looking back, I think I still have the locker key. This abandoning of personal belongings is a bit of a trend for me it seems, must have been a load of $ wasted.

This time around, Basil and I signed up to take a class at Foothill College with Charles “Skip” Cantwell. The medium: water-soluble oils; a huge benefit of which is not having to deal with toxic chemicals.

The best thing about painting is just taking some time to do something out of the ordinary for a few hours a week. No matter how tired I am after a long day of work, I manage to leave the class relaxed and always in a good mood. The biggest investment is probably the cost of all the supplies and paints but once you pass that initial hurdle, they’ll last you for a while. That is, until you start thinking about all the other paint colors you need to stock up on and all the brushes you might need… but in my opinion, completely worth it!

Anyways, here are the results: (Original photographs followed by our works-of-art(?)):

Original:

Basil’s Painting:

Original:

My Painting:

When I told my mom what our subject-matter was, here are her two cents:
“How come whenever you go somewhere it is never for two of you doing something romantic? Is it something to do (with) SueAnn wanting to paint tunnel and Basil flower? Ha ha ha! Be little more forward in romantic mood, SueAnn.”

(A mother’s few nuggets of wisdom.)

Onto the next painting!

Basil has decided to take a break from painting to concentrate on his Business and Tax Accounting classes so I’m on my own for a while. The next attempt is going to be a gift for a friend. Stay tuned!

I was sick over the holidays, suffering from a pretty typical flu complete with cough, sinus issues, green phlegm, the whole nine yards. I mentioned this to my mom in passing and received the following advice:

************************************************************
Clean your nose with water every night.

Let the water go through to your throat from the nose. **

In the beginning it hurts but it gets better.

You will not get cold often.

Eat oranges a lot. Respiratory diseases could make it worse.

Your sm sister (meaning my aunt) always gets cold with cough.

For the cough find out home remedy and use it.

Medication will harm you when your condition is worsened.

Always think you can do for your health when you are healthy.

When you get sick it is always too late or takes too long to be cured.

Even though you are busy your healthy should not be overlooked.

When you are sick, everything will be stopped.

This trip with Walters is the best thing. But take care of you.

Take lots of natural vitamin C.

Love,
mom

************************************************************
Couldn’t resist and had to share, she’s so cute! My favorite line? “Take care of you.” Love you mom! And the advice is pretty good, my mom is usually right.

** Neti Pot? Anyone try this out? I’m a bit intrigued. But I’m not sure if I can incorporate this into my nightly ritual. Apparently Oprah is a fan? Although come to think of it, I’ve read quite a few books off of her Book Club list that I didn’t like. Not to say I wouldn’t give this a try but I’m just sayin’…

Regarding the “trip with Walters,” Basil and I joined the Au’s (with Ty and Karen) up at Old Greenwood in Tahoe this past weekend. The previous week was a whirlwind and just a bit stressful so it was nice to get away for a bit to enjoy the snow and soak up the mountains. Also introduced the gang to our new favorite game obsession (thanks to cousin Dan): Monopoly Deal! The best part is the whole family can play although Basil and I did enjoy being the ultimate winners in the not-so-kid-friendly game of poker this weekend. Sorry guys for taking advantage of your hospitality and then taking all of your money! When’s the next trip to Old Greenwood?

I was able to twist Lynn’s arm to receive her very generous permission to post her award-winning Almond Cake recipe! I was going to wait until I found the time to make the cake myself so that I could post some snazzy moody pictures along with the recipe but obviously that hasn’t happened. And where has January gone!???!

To remind you, this was the cake that won Lynn first place in our First Annual Holiday Bake-Off and the coveted iPod Shuffle.. lucky girl. Can you smell my envy?

Here it is! She claims it takes 10 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to bake.

The 10-Minute (plus 30 minutes baking time) Almond Cake

Equipment:
9 inch Springform Pan
Food Processor

Crunchy topping:
10 tablespoons of sliced almonds
4 tablespoons of sugar

Cake:
1 1/2 cup whole almonds (unbalanced or blanched)
1 1/4 cup sugar + 2 tablespoons
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
1/2 teaspoon pure coconut extract
3 large eggs
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into several chunks and slightly softened
1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Powdered sugar for dusting

1. Position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 350F.

2. Place whole almonds, sugar, salt and extracts in a food processor and process until nuts are pulverized.

3. Add the eggs, butter and pulse until thoroughly blended. Fold in flour and baking powder.

4. Smear sides and bottom of pan with about 1 tablespoon softened butter. Scatter sliced almonds until bottom and (about) 1 inch up the sides of pan are covered. Sprinkle sugar over the top.

5. Pour cake batter carefully and evenly into prepared pan. Bake 30-40 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before unmolding. To unmold, slide a slim knife or spatula carefully around the bottom, pressing against the pan to release the cake without cracking the crust. Flip cake over (crust side up) and cover with confection sugar.

*Serve with fresh berries, a fresh puree, or sliced pears or nectarines. (Also tastes great by itself, which is how we experienced the cake..)

Helpful hints:
1. If you prefer a more dense type cake, cut butter portion in half

2. If you prefer a less crunchy top, make a little more of the almond /sugar / extract mixture and sprinkle that on the bottom of the pan instead.

3. If your oven runs hot, turn temp to 325 (you don’t want to burn the almonds) and cook cake a little longer.

My updates are few and far between partly due to distractions like browsing for Aquatalia boots, especially thanks to Bing Cashback (offering 25% back on these boots in particular! – but still over my budget for winter boots in the Bay Area..)

My Pandora station is still stuck on Mariah Carey Christmas because I want Christmas to stick around just a little bit longer. I’m aiming to leave the lights up, put off the white elephant gift exchange until the new year and soak up the holidays for a bit longer!

Fun Holiday Happenings:
1. Santa’s Outhouse
Tony, David and I tied for 1st place at this year’s marketing party with our crooked winter outhouse. This is basically a gingerbread house turned on it’s side with a few added details. I wish I had made the time to add the toilet paper roll! (Pardon the image quality, this was taken with my Storm.)

2. 1st Annual DMT Bake-Off
Quite possibly a new DMT tradition. I made pumpkin mochi with a recipe forwarded by a couple of lovely friends from church and came in 2nd place. There are a few mochi recipes that can be found online but I used the one found at Kirbie Cravings.

Recipe for Pumpkin Mochi:
Ingredients
29 oz can Pumpkin puree
14 oz can Sweetened condensed milk
1 Cup of butter melted
4 Eggs, beaten
2 tsp Vanilla
1 lb box Mochiko-sweet rice flour
2 Cups Sugar
2 tsp Baking powder

Directions
1. In a medium bowl mix mochiko flour, baking powder.
2. In a large bowl mix all the other ingredients. Then add the dry ingredients.
3. Pour into a greased 13 by 9 inch baking dish.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Allow the cake to cool completely for a few hours before cutting and serving.

Lynn won 1st place (and an iPod Shuffle compliments of a generous boss) with her Almond Cake. (Recipe here, it deserves a post all its own…)

3. Extended Family Trip to Donner, Tahoe
I’m convinced that this needs to be an annual family event! 13 adults and 3 kids in one cozy house. Snowboarding, sledding, endless kalbi, Monopoly Deal (temporarily replacing Texas Hold ‘Em), Guesstures, Troy, and a short stop in Reno to eat buffet and watch Peter at the craps table. Great chance to test out my new Nikon D90!

Even a nasty 2-week cold couldn’t dampen the fun. Missing my family most around this time, much love to John and co. and the parents in China. Muah!

And of course, the real meaning of Christmas: (thanks D.D.!)

There is a lot to process after attending last week’s Streaming Media West conference in San Jose. Aside from all that takeaways relevant to digital media for the enterprise, I also wanted to test out some of the new (or at least new to me) toys for my blog.

First off: The Kaltura Interactive Video Plugin (for WordPress)

(From the Plug-In page)
Add interactive video capabilities to your blog! This is not just another video embed tool – it includes the ability to upload/ record/import videos directly to your post, edit and remix content with an online video editor, enable video responses, manage and track your video content and much more… And Kaltura covers all hosting and streaming costs for FREE up to 10GB.

Highlights
* Upload, record from webcam and import all rich-media directly to your blog post;
* Edit and remix videos using Kaltura’s online full-featured video editor;
* Easily import all rich media (video, audio, pictures…) from other sites and social networks, such as MySpace, Flickr, CCMixter, Jamendo, New York Public Library etc. and;
* Allow readers and subscribers to add video and audio comments, and to participate in collaborative videos;

The Result
Update (12/30/09): This plug-in was causing a major conflict with my WP theme in IE7 and sadly had to be removed from the page. If you do attempt to use this tool, test thoroughly in all browsers!

Granted, this is my first stab at using this tool, but out-of-the-box I wish there was a way to edit the audio directly in the program. Otherwise, very easy to install and use! No need for a heavy-duty editor (except perhaps Audacity or another free audio-editing program) and you’re all set to publish. There is also the option to allow others to collaborate on the videos but I’ve turned this option off for now. The feature to grab images directly from my Flickr site is a nice feature.

The Interface

By the way, Flickr can now store video and offers a very clean embeddable video player with at least one drawback: for videos over 90 seconds long, only the first 90 seconds will play.

Immediately after OpenWorld, Basil and I took off and headed to the town of Mammoth Lakes, east of the Sierra’s. I didn’t set aside any time to research this spot, so luckily Basil had the entire trip mapped out. In fact, I knew so little about where we were headed that I told my boss embarrassingly that I was going to “Lake Mammoth.”

We knew that Tioga Pass through Yosemite was closed due to snow, so we took an alternate route through Bear Valley. We were giddily 45 minutes from our hotel when a park ranger informs us that there is a rock slide up ahead and that we would need to take another road into Mammoth Lakes. No biggie, just a 3 1/2 hour detour. Bad news since I was pretty much passed out at this point and Basil was barely awake, driving on FUMES. It was pitch black out, super foggy, and Basil was navigating the windy roads in a zombie-like state with no guarantee that the route that we chose would remain open. But the real highlight of the drive was being stalked by and verbally attacked by a drunken angry man in the middle of the night. He actually leaned into our car on the passenger side as I yelped and whimpered and covered my head with my sweatshirt. But no matter, once we finally arrived, the trip was fantastic! Total time on road: 8.5 hours

Road Trip:

Other trip highlights:
1. Visiting the gold mining ghost town of Bodie, which has a history of murderous inhabitants. I bet the smelly man that stopped us the night before would have fit in real well here. “Goodbye God, I’m going to Bodie” was a popular saying coined by a little girl whose family moved to the town. Great place to walk around and imagine what the town must have been like when it was bustling with families, robbers, miners, store owners, gunfighters and prostitutes. It’s rumored that there was a man killed every day in Bodie.

2. Mobil Restaurant (also known as Whoa Nellie Deli) in Lee Vining
(22 Vista Point Rd., Lee Vining, CA 93541)
Believe it or not, this deli found inside a Mobile gas station mart serves up high quality food and provides a great view of Mono Lake. (Try the fries and the calamari sandwich if you visit.) I’ve heard rumors of live bands playing here on summer nights with the occasional belly dancer. And though we weren’t lucky enough to visit while the trapeze artists were present, I hear they offer up lessons to tourists.

3. Mono Lake
Mark Twain wrote of Mono, “Its sluggish waters are so strong with alkali that if you only dip the most hopelessly soiled garment into them once or twice, and wring it out, it will be found as clean as if it had been through the ablest of washer woman’s hands.”

We entered in at the South Tufa area which has the most spectacular views, especially of the tufa towers. If you get a chance to swim in this lake, the salty waters are said to keep you “delightfully buoyant.” The issue I would have is sharing the waters with the masses of brine shrimp and the alkaline flies that swarm around the water’s edges. But perhaps worth a try although I’m itchy just thinking about it. Great place to take pictures.

4. June Lake Loop

Need I say more?

5. Breakfast at Schat’s Bakery
(3305 Main St, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546)
Try the cheese bread and a latte.

Photo props to Basil, except for those taken of Mobil. (You can see where my affections lie.)

Last week on a Wednesday, well into my daily morning ritual of hitting the snooze button and lounging a bit more in bed, I finally decide to get up and start my day. But not until after sneaking in one final morning stretch to get the sleep kinks out of my body. I reach up and out and.. out pops my shoulder from the socket! Wow, I’m out of shape. The sucker just slips out over the cartilage and there I am, trapped in bed with my arm hanging out of the socket. Hmmm… what a conundrum.

The next 40 minutes are spent weighing out my options:
1. Do I force myself up and call 911? I can’t call 911, the house is too messy.
2. How about if I just lay here all day until Basil comes home? Tempting. But embarrassing. And I need to call work.

After about 45 minutes, I manage to get out of bed and walk over to my phone. The first person I call is David Dennis to make sure all is well with the on-demands for the big webcast that took place the day before. I know, sick.

I call my aunt Michelle who drives over but can’t come in because by then my body is in shock and I’m hunched over at the desk with sweat pouring from my face and nausea has set in. Hmm.. am I going to die?

By the time Basil gets home, I’m still very much alive and resting semi-comfortably with my limp arm chilling against the side of the chair. He’s walking in while reaching out, ready to yank on the arm and set it into place as I’m pleading, “Please no, no no no no.. please no..” HAAAAAAAA.. let’s just let the doctor take care of it, got that?

How to Fix a Dislocated Shoulder
Not caring that I’m still in my pajamas, I stumble to the car and settle in. As we start entering the circular on-ramp to Highway 85, I feel this horrible pressure on my shoulder and start to whimper. “Ooh, ow. Owwwwwww.. ow ow.. dang it. ow.” It hurt. And leaning in the opposite direction doesn’t lessen the pressure one bit. As the car straightens out, I feel a faint *pop.* Hmm. I think my shoulder is in. Yes sir, it’s in. After 2 hours, this is how my shoulder is fixed? Turns out that driving clock-wise in a tight circle is the answer.

My get-well gift from Basil:

Workout bands!

Up-side to all this? A little nudge to start working out again – need to start putting my $20/year gym membership to use.