Enrolled in Full Sail University Graduate School

I am enrolled in a graduate school program at Full Sail University (online): Educational Media Design in Technology (EMDT). This video was required watching this week - it is incredible - watch it.

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs: Secrets of Life, a 30-minute short film, is now available as a video and audio download at this link: http://www.SteveJobsSecretsofLife.org.

In this 1994 film interview conducted by the Santa Clara Valley Historical Association, Steve Jobs emphasizes why it is so important to take risks — including just the act of picking up the phone and asking someone for help.

Object is a UFO say experts

It's hard not to notice. Lots of UFO sightings in the news lately - 8 in the past day or two...

screen capture of Colorado sighting in June 2012

screen capture of Colorado sighting in June 2012

All news channels are showing this Denver, CO sighting on November 8, 2012:

Very interesting. We are in a global spiritual awakening and I like it. Please note that everything posted on my blog is public information and that it does not necessarily reflect my opinions or beliefs nor does it reflect the opinions of the U.S. Treasury. Nevertheless, it is fascinating, so I post it here to review it at my leisure.

Sceen captures of the Denver, CO siting on November 8, 2012:

screen shot from above video of the Denver sighting

J. Allen Hynek's stereoscopic photo of sighting from airplane circa 1960s

closeup of Hynek's photo from 1960s

Dr. Josef Allen Hynek (May 1, 1910 – April 27, 1986) was a United States astronomer, professor, and ufologist.[1] He is perhaps best remembered for his UFO research. Hynek acted as scientific adviser to UFO studies undertaken by the U.S. Air Force under three consecutive names: Project Sign (1947–1949), Project Grudge (1949–1952), and Project Blue Book (1952 to 1969). For decades afterwards, he conducted his own independent UFO research, and is widely considered the father of the concept of scientific analysis of both reports and, especially, trace evidence purportedly left by UFOs... 

Dr. Joseph Allen Hynek

It wasn't until after World War II that interest in space-age visitors—and UFOs—really seemed to take off, and then it did so in a spectacular way. On June 24, 1947, salesman Kenneth Arnold was flying his private plane near Mount Rainier in Washington when he spotted a chain of nine, brightly lit objects moving at incredible speed near the mountain's peak. Arnold described each of them moving "like a saucer would if you skipped it across the water," ushering the phrase "flying saucer" into common parlance. As with many such sightings, various explanations were offered—a mirage or meteors, for example—but in the eyes of many people the mystery was never resolved. >Read

Kenneth Arnold spotted UFOs over Tulsa, OK in 1947.

The screen shots on this post all have UFOs with similar shapes, but there are other sightings of UFOs that look like disks, some having lights on their perimeter. I have never really been intrigued by UFO sitings previous to today; the fact that Fox and ABC and US News has decided to report is, in my opinion, important news. As a Photoshop and video expert, I think that the footage is real, but who knows? I am open to the possibility of extraterrestrial beings visiting our planet. What do you think? I just hope that pilots don't become distracted upon seeing a UFO.

Downsizing starts

The circus always moves on... now where to go?
(Scene from Charlie Chapman film "A Tramp in the Circus".)

The circus I joined is leaving and, as usual, unless I find a new circus, I will be left to find a way to survive on my own... contracting, freelancing...

After 4 plus years in my current position,
I'm not afraid of anything anymore...

I can work in any environment
- anytime, anywhere...

Adele - Skyfall Adele - Skyfall

Powered by mp3ape.com

Powered by mp3ape.com

It's not muscle, it's skill - knowing how to communicate
- you are ALWAYS communicating... something...

I have applied to many jobs and finally I have a tentative job offer. Or two. maybe more. But, they are all tentative and I would need to move for each one... So, today I am preparing by sorting through my things I have collected over the years and downsizing - not an easy task, but why hold on to the past?

I think that the first thing I need to do is collect boxes and start to categorize and pack. Stack them up in a corner of a room. Then I will sell off my large, heavy pieces of antique-y furniture... and buy new!

My dream apartment:

cozy media room

my dream kitchen...

home office is tucked away but has lots of shelves

I am torn between modern and rustic. I think that both are possible. Rustic on the outside and modern features inside:

country/European/rustic/bohemian

I want to make my room door wallpapered, too...
and add a vintage brass knob (germs don't live very long on brass).

At this very moment, the song "Home by Phillip Phillips is playing on the radio:

"Home"

Hold on, to me as we go

As we roll down this unfamiliar road

And although this wave is stringing us along

Just know you’re not alone

Cause I’m going to make this place your home

Settle down, it'll all be clear

Don't pay no mind to the demons

They fill you with fear

The trouble it might drag you down

If you get lost, you can always be found

Just know you’re not alone

Cause I’m going to make this place your home

Ooo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo. oo-oo-oo-oo [x2]

Aaa-aa-aa-aa-aa-aa-aa. aa-aa-aa-aaaaaa [x2]

Settle down, it'll all be clear

Don't pay no mind to the demons

They fill you with fear

The trouble it might drag you down

If you get lost, you can always be found

Just know you’re not alone

Cause I’m going to make this place your home

Ooo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo. oo-oo-oo-oo [x4]

Aaa-aa-aa-aa-aa-aa-aa. aa-aa-aa-aaaaaa [x4]

A safe way to break the rules...

A safe way to break the rules is to cook up something new and innovative instead of traditional recipes. For example, try this cranberry chutney for Thanksgiving (someone recommended adding a bit of horseradish, the red horseradish is less bitter):

[Extraordinary] Garlicky Cranberry Chutney
Susan Stamberg calls this recipe "my truly favorite cranberry side dish." It's from Madhur Jaffrey's cookbook East/West Menus for Family and Friends (Harper & Row, 1987).

1-inch piece fresh ginger
3 cloves finely chopped garlic
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons sugar
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
l-pound can cranberry sauce with berries
1/2 teaspoon salt (or less)
ground black pepper

Cut ginger into paperthin slices, stack them together and cut into really thin slivers.
Combine ginger, garlic, vinegar, sugar and cayenne in a small pot. Bring to a simmer, simmer on medium flame about 15 minutes or until there are about four tablespoons of liquid left.

Add can of cranberry sauce, salt and pepper. Mix and bring to a simmer. Lumps are ok. Simmer on a gentle heat for about 10 minutes.

Cool, store and refrigerate. ("It will keep for several days, if you don't finish it all after first taste!")

In parallel universe, I am eating cranberry chutney 
in my James Hubbell house:

Dreaming in, and of, my Hubbell bedroom...

"I think we have an urge for there to be more to reality than our daily lives. We delight in the possibility that, under what we've long taken to be certain, lies something hidden." ―Brian Greene, theoretical physicist

Film: A Tramp in the Circus. Charlie Chapman in the funhouse's
"Mirror Maze" - a metaphor for a multi-dimensional universe.

Pineal gland - the storehouse
of imagination and creativity.

I am so busy working that my mind will not stop racing at bedtime. I need to find a sleep aid that does not contain melatonin because ingesting melatonin will make my pineal gland stop producing melatonin and that is how dependency occurs.

The pineal gland is responsible for secreting two extremely vital brain fluids related to our mental health: 1) melatonin, which is the hormone that induces sleep, and 2) serotonin, which is the chemical that helps to maintain a happy, healthy balanced mental state of mind, among other functions. The major pineal hormone produced is melatonin. Melatonin levels decrease as we age, as does the size of the pineal gland which also starts to calcify.  René Descartes, the 17th-century French philosopher-mathematician, concluded that the pineal was the seat of the soul. Ancient Greeks felt the pineal gland was our connection to "the realms of thought". It is thought of as the organ of higher vision and creativity.

The pineal gland is photosensitive and the body's timekeeper. Light activates the pineal gland. Keep your pineal gland healthy by being in the natural sunlight for 30 minutes a day - sunlight must be taken in through your eyes. Eat seaweed vegetables such as kombu, arame, wakume, dulse, nori, etc. Eat dark, leafy vegetables: kale, turnip greens, mustard greens, bok choy, collard greens, etc. Eat almonds, bananas, hot peppers, rice, potatoes, black-eyed peas, and raw cocoa.

"The pineal gland secretes melatonin, during times of relaxation and visualization. As we are created by electromagnetic energy - and react to EM energy stimuli around us - so does the pineal gland." Read

The Third Eye or 6th Chakra is closely related to the pineal gland. 

Rules - are yours sacred?

 “Our ambition should be to rule ourselves, the true kingdom for each one of us; and true progress is to know more, and be more, and to do more.”

—Oscar Wilde

 “The new rule shall rule as the soul rules, and as the love and justice and equality that are in the soul rule.”

—Walt Whitman

How the Brain Decides Whether or Not to 'Sell Out'

If you refuse to take money to change a belief, that belief is sacred to you. Finding if rules are values-based, or financial-based, is important  in order to discover if some beliefs or rules can be bought. 

“Most public policy is based on offering people incentives and disincentives,” he said. “Our findings indicate that it’s unreasonable to think that a policy based on costs-and-benefits analysis will influence people’s behavior when it comes to their sacred personal values, because they are processed in an entirely different brain system than incentives.” >Read

Einstein said that genius can't be bought - 
it comes from a sacred place, channeled from the universe.

Don't do, dream... :-)

 "Action is the last resource of those
who know not how to dream."

— Oscar Wilde

Mentation, negative ions, and poets

Mentation
From searchdictionaries.com:

Sub-conscious mentation means thinking with the subconscious mind, and under the conditions prescribed in the formula it is thinking a thought sent over by the objective mind. The sub-conscious mind cannot think anything that is untrue, ...

Mentation is the realization of mind itself, of its pure undifferentiated Essence. When the mind is fixed on its pure Essence, there should be no lingering notions of the self, even of the self in the act of realizing, nor of realization...

Mentation is a function which transcends space- time characteristics of bodily processes even though it is dependent on them. Although energy concepts cannot bridge the chasm between physiology and psychology...

Vinotts fei mentation means that peculiar change which all native sacchariferous juices are liable to undergo when left to themselves at the ordinary temperature, and which results in the formation of some kind of "wine."

Thus,  the word "fermentation". If you had solid alcohol floating in water, when it melts, the water level would drop, because water and alcohol mix at the molecular level; i.e. water fills the spaces among the alcohol molecules. Read more

I live in the "Wine Country" but I never drink alcohol. However, I am a big fan of organic grape juice. It is the best medicine for keeping cholesterol down. Living in the country, by the seashore, lakes, rivers, or streams - that's so much better than wine for elevating your mood, not to mention better than any mood-enhancing drug prescription or otherwise. Living in natural surroundings, close to nature, is not possible for everyone - but even having a small plant in the home or at your desk is possible.

Best Cure-All: Nature and It's Negative Ions > Read


Water is the universal solvent. It is also a polar molecule. Water is a polar molecule because of the difference in electronegativity between hydrogen and oxygen. Electronegativity is a measure of the attraction of an atom for the electrons in a chemical bond. The ionization energy, or ionization potential, is the energy required to completely remove an electron from a gaseous atom or ion. The closer and more tightly bound an electron is to the nucleus, the more difficult it will be to remove, and the higher its ionization energy will be. You may think of ionization energy as a measure of the difficulty of removing electron or the strength by which an electron is bound. 

Negative ions have a positive effect o people, whereas positive ions have a negative effect. An atom that has one of its normal orbiting electrons removed is called a positive ion. But an atom that has an extra electron added is called a negative ion. 
So you see, it's really kind of backwards; the terms Negative and Positive are actually reversed, in this context. It's a misnomer that we can blame on Benjamin Franklin (so we hear) who lived in the 1700's. Back in his time, electrons (with a "negative" charge) and atoms were not understood correctly. But the word negative is still being used this way; to this day, an atom with an extra electron is still called a negative ion. So, we're all still stuck with this 18th century terminology, and that's why they're called "negative ions". 

Technically Speaking:
Ions are charged particles in the air that are formed in nature in different ways. One way is when enough energy acts upon a molecule such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, or water to eject an electron from the molecule leaving a positively charged ion. The displaced electron attaches itself to a nearby molecule, which then becomes a negatively charged ion. It is the negative ion of oxygen that affects us the most.  Read more

Salt crystal lamps emit negative ions.

Sea air has negative ions which enhance mood.

The heat from a lighted salt lamp attracts moisture. The evaporation of water through salt emits negative ions. Rock salt lamps are made from salt crystals that are approximately 250 million years old from the Himalayan mountain regions. I purchased my salt lamp from San Francisco's Academy of Science Museum.

Poets Knew About the Power of 

Mentation, Nature, and Negative Ions

John Muir, who dedicated his life to preserving Yosemite Valley and the surrounding Sierra Nevada Mountains, wrote, 

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to plan in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike... “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.”

Not surprisingly, negative ions are most abundant in the places were people go to feel good: nearby oceans, rivers, ponds, stream, and waterfalls - in nature, not in office buildings or airplanes with recycled air, and definitely NOT in traffic.

How I see poet Mary Oliver.

Mary Oliver writes in her poem “Mornings at Blackwater”: 

“So come to the pond, 

or the river of your imagination, 

or the harbor of your longing, 

and put your lips to the world.”

Creating Happiness

I remember coming upon the book "Practical Psychology" (written in the 1920s) by theologist Judge Daniel August Simmons when I was only seven years old. It fascinated me, I was hooked on metaphysics ever since. From wikipedia:

Daniel Augustus Simmons is an author known for creating self-psychology literature. An example of his work is "The Realization System," self-published by Judge Simmons during the 1920s in the USA as a Private Course of 12 Lessons in Practical Psychology, and published in book form in the U.K. some years later. (1936, Psychology Publishing Co. Manchester), and now available in audio and ebook form from: www.realizationsystem.com

Another text by Judge Simmons which is now available in the public domain is "The Science of Religion: Fundamental Faiths Expressed In Modern Terms" (1916).^[1]

Concepts covered in this author's work include The Law Of Attraction, made famous in recent years by the resurgence of interest in Charles F. Haanel and his most popular workThe Master Key System and Subconscious programming through auto-suggestion. Pages 8 and 9 from "The Science of Religion..." below:

On page 11 Judge Simmons goes on to write that "...the book proclaims and describes a Universal Intelligent Force... where may lie a great world of spiritual material abounding in life and controlled by intelligence. Then additional evidence is brought forward, tending to prove the actual existence of such a world, and its habitation by men, women, and children clothed upon the spiritual bodies the existence of which St. Paul asserts as a fact."

St. Paul tells us: "It is sown an animal body, it shall rise a spiritual body." John 20:26 >Read more> The Happiness of Heaven by F. J. Boudreaux

My father was a Southern Baptist and my mother was an Ashkenazi Jew from Prague - I was told to decide on my own what to believe. I believe in a universal mind and the power of our intentions.

Here are some of my favorite videos from youtube on the subject of health, happiness, and the quantum universe. 

Huaxia Zhineng Qigong Clinic & Training Center in China

The Quantum Universe



Imaging the Tenth Dimension by Rob Bryanton


Brian Greene - The Hidden Reality

My little elf guy

Elf flying plane over Golden Gate Bridge from AnneMarie Arnold on Vimeo.

I created this little elf guy years ago and spent many hours on the animation. I added the music by the Neville Brothers - I lived in New Orleans and still miss it... there is no place like New Orleans.

"Scratch the surface of any person with rare skills and you'll find a person who has put thousands of hours of effort into developing those skills."―Jeff Haden, Eight Things Remarkably Successful People Do, Inc.com

Copyright Annemarie Arnold.

Infusing good intentions

I have always believed in powers beyond the visible. This video is a confirmation that our intentions can shape the world around us...

Masaru Emoto was born in Yokohama, Japan in July 1943 and a graduate of the Yokohama Municipal University's department of humanities and sciences with a focus on International Relations. In 1986 he established the IHM Corporation in Tokyo. In October of 1992 he received certification from the Open International University as a Doctor of Alternative Medicine. Subsequently he was introduced to the concept of micro cluster water in the US and Magnetic Resonance Analysis technology. The quest thus began to discover the mystery of water.

He undertook extensive research of water around the planet not so much as a scientific researcher, but more from the perspective of an original thinker. At length he realized that it was in the frozen crystal form that water showed us its true nature through. He has gained worldwide acclaim through his groundbreaking research and discovery that water is deeply connected to our individual and collective consciousness.

Mr. Emoto has been visually documenting these molecular changes in water by means of his photographic techniques. He freezes droplets of water and then examines them under a dark field microscope that has photographic capabilities.

Some examples from his works include:

Water from clear mountain springs and streams had beautifully formed crystalline structures, while the crystals of polluted or stagnant water were deformed and distorted.

Distilled water exposed to classical music took delicate, symmetrical crystalline shapes.

When the words "thank you" were taped to a bottle of distilled water, the frozen crystals had a similar shape to the crystals formed by water that had been exposed to Bach's "Goldberg Variations"- music composed out of gratitude to the man it was named for.

When water samples were bombarded with heavy metal music or labeled with negative words, or when negative thoughts and emotions were focused intentionally upon them, such as "Adolf Hitler", the water did not form crystals at all and displayed chaotic, fragmented structures.

When water was treated with aromatic floral oils, the water crystals tended to mimic the shape of the original flower.

Sometimes, when we cannot see the immediate results of our affirmations and or prayers, we think we have failed. But, as we learn through Masaru Emoto's photographs, that thought of failure itself becomes represented in the physical objects that surround us. Now that we have seen this, perhaps we can begin to realize that even when immediate results are invisible to the unaided human eye, they are still there. When we love our own bodies, they respond. When we send our love to the Earth, she responds.

For our own bodies at birth are more than 60 percent water, and the percentage of water in our bodies remains high throughout life (depending upon weight and body type). The earth's surface is more than 60 percent water as well. And now we have seen before our eyes that water is far from inanimate, but is actually alive and responsive to our every thought and emotion. Perhaps, having seen this, we can begin to really understand the awesome power that we possess, through choosing our thoughts and intentions, to heal ourselves and the earth. If only we believe.

Whether you participate in global meditations, or simply do this inner work in the quiet of your own loving mind and heart -- we can heal the body of our earth and recreate a clear, pristine world to hand down to our children for seven generations.

Office Masaru Emoto:
http://www.masaru-emoto.net/english/e_ome_home.html

Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masaru_Emoto

Music by: Antony Raijekov-Photo theme
Peace, love and light.

Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, dreamers, fairy tales, and the consciousness of water

Madame Curie was born this day in 1867. Through her discovery of radium, Marie Curie paved the way for nuclear physics and cancer therapy. She would not accept royalties from  any products made from using radium (such as radium water) that led to radiation poisoning.

Physicists Marie Curie and Albert Einstein.

"I am among those who think that science has great beauty. A scientist in his laboratory is not only a technician: he is also a child placed before natural phenomena which impress him like a fairy tale. We should not allow it to be believed that all scientific progress can be reduced to mechanisms, machines, gearings, even though such machinery has its own beauty." — Marie Curie during a debate in Madrid, 'The Future of Culture' (1933). In Eve Curie Labouisse, Eve Curie and Vincent Sheean, Madame Curie (1937), 341

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” ― Albert Einstein

A century ago, radioactive water was all the rage after radiation treatment was found to shrink cancerous tumors. Water was infused with radium and nicknamed "sunshine in a bottle".  The "all natural" radon water was promoted for vigor, uranium blankets for arthritis, and thorium-laced medicine for digestion, to name a few... this was a huge million-dollar industry that lasted for decades. If you want your children to be intelligent, educate them to beware our own desire for a "magic bullet" that will make us smart, rich, happy, healthy. Popular Science

Surprisingly, radon products can be found as recent as 2005. 
Read more 

Embracing and elevating the weird - that's marketing!

Marketing is actually "...telling a story that resonates with a tribe. This is the act of creating alignment, of understanding worldviews, of embracing and elevating the weird."               — Seth Godin, The circles of marketing

My original intention was to market my product and services (see "about me"), on this blog. But I just realized that really isn't my intention at all. My intention is to share my thoughts and feelings with anyone, anywhere and create a tribe. My original subject (50 weeks until my workplace closes) is transitioning into something else. I've discovered that on this journey I have entered into a new space - a space that has little to do with my pending layoff. The story unfolds with neither a preconceived destination nor a thought-out path to anywhere in particular - the path reveals itself as I go. And I don't feel anxious about my future anymore (that's the best part)... Total uncertainty with no anxiety. I am finally living "in the moment".

Godin's statement has to do with a story that is already written. I want a story that writes itself in the moment. But that isn't possible as even the decisions we make are not consciously made "in the moment". Scientists have proven that our decisions are actually made six seconds before we became consciously aware of them. Let's embrace and elevate the weird:



John-Dylan Haynes (Professor at the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin) shows Marcus Du Sautoy (Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford and Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science) that he can see his decisions 6 seconds before he makes them.

I like Du Sautoy's polka-dot socks, fun, weird, flirtatious... like this Charlie Chapman movie:

 Flirting scene from 1917 Charlie Chaplin film A Dog's Life.

“We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness—and call it love—true love.” ― Robert Fulghum, True Love

Want more attention? Change your font!

I had no idea what would be the subject for today until I stumbled upon this article. It explains so much of what I intuitively have been doing for my clients to make them immensely successful. 

University of Illinois psychology professor Jesse Preston, right,
and graduate student Ivan Hernandez
Photo credit: L. Brian Stauffer

"We showed that if we can slow people down, if we can make them stop relying on their gut reaction – that feeling that they already know what something says – it can make them more moderate; it can have them start doubting their initial beliefs and start seeing the other side of the argument a little bit more," Hernandez said.
Source: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

New research, reported in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Study shows how subtle manipulations which affect how people absorb information can reduce political polarization.
via sciencecodex.com

Liberals and conservatives who are polarized on certain politically charged subjects become more moderate when reading political arguments in a difficult-to-read font, researchers report in a new study. This is also true in mock trials where evidence is presented in a difficult-to-read font.

"When your mind thinks it’s seeing something new it gives it full scrutiny and isn’t as biased. But when understanding of the knowledge comes easily it gets pre-sorted into a category with a label - and that label is what you called it before." — danielmiessler.com

As a graphic designer, I think about how certain fonts emotionally impact the viewer. Fonts can be serious, sweet, academic, hipster, casual, or scary. I create corporate marketing brands, logos, and documents that are used to sway the viewer. I have been known to create U.S. Treasury financial annual Operating Plans with sweet-looking (storybook) fonts - not your typical financial document with 12 point Times Roman. The viewers found them engaging, inspiring, and actually were compelled to read them as opposed to glance through them because they assumed nothing had changed since last year's Operational Plan... I find this article fascinating and I understand intuitively how it is true.

I have found that by composing dry, technical information into an engaging visual, with images, videos, illustrations, as well as by using unconventional fonts, the viewer is not inclined to dismiss the information at first glance as something he/she has already seen, but instead will take time to study the information to learn what is new. 

This concept explains why fashion exists and why we have a need for fashion - new fashions break status quo thinking, encourage us to reinvent ourselves.

Fashion is in the sky, in the street, 

fashion has to do with ideas, 

the way we live, what is happening. 

— Coco Chanel

I have always observed fashion trends in art, clothes, architecture, and technology. I like to discover what is "in" and who is wearing, or using, it. I can better understand a culture or town or organization by what the locals wear, how they tend their home gardens, and especially by the shop window displays. I can tell if the locals are well-educated and well-travelled, or if their expectations are limited. I am a window shopper on many levels. I see everything, and I think about it... Most people where I work don't put much effort into how they dress, they wear very conservative casual attire, mostly in blues and browns. Recently, an employee dressed flamboyantly in bright colors and patterns and, days later, the employee quit. I have no idea what transpired - but I find it interesting... very much so...

Yesterday, I ventured to Los Gatos to do my culturista research. I found the fashion in Los Gatos to be multi-cultural, artsy, sophisticated and expensive:

Los Gatos Anthropologie

Los Gatos Bridal Boutique

The home furnishing stores' window displays in Los Gatos appeal to well-read, movie buffs - the window displays have tables stacked up with books and videos:

Lulu Pom Home Furnishing's window display

Toy stores in Los Gatos appeal to grandparents' taste:

Los Gatos Toy Soldier Store

And, of course, there is Fleur de Cocoa, my favorite authentically French pastry shop:

Coffee and an Apple Charlotte at Fleur de Cocoa

Old Town Los Gatos 

Low crime, good schools, Los Gatos is one
of my favorite places to live or visit.

Los Gatos is known as the "Winners' Circle" in Silicon Valley since the tech boom of the 1980s. The Los Gatos residents are affluent, well educated, well travelled, and have good taste.

Spoiled for choice

Spoiled for choice...

I love fashion and I have too many shoes. I feel that I should downsize my shoe inventory in the event I have to move for my work (a ridiculous idea in 2012), unless I continue to be a virtual worker. But I like dressing up and meeting people. I'd enjoy the cultural assets of Washington, DC which would be close enough to New York and Boston to see relatives. (And closer to London and Paris!) ... DC beckons... such an exciting place... Then again, I could live anywhere as a virtual worker... I am spoiled for choice.

I want these shoes. Sigh.

Should I dare drive Washington, DC? 

1959 Cadillac Cyclone

Driving in DC - I hear that road rage in DC is worse than in Los Angeles, but I might not need a car if I live in Georgetown. I wonder how bullyish other DC drivers would be if I drove a 1959 Cadillac Cyclone?

Fall Harvest

"When something's difficult to come by, you'll do that much more to make sure it's even harder -if not impossible- to lose.” ― Sarah Dessen, Along for the Ride

It's fall harvest time. My vegetable garden was small this year, but next year will be larger as I learn how to become better at organic farming. I don't want anything from my garden to go to waste, not even one tiny green pea. Not even the scrapings, nor the stems. I need to start composting to lessen waste and make my soil even richer for new crops.

fresh from garden: lettuce, tomato, cucumber - today's lunch

raspberries for dessert

just a few grapevines

grape harvest

I created this video of the Carneros region of Napa, it is a healthy place to live. It is like what i imagine heaven to be like (with friends, loved ones, angels)... I know of several people well into their 90s - they are my neighbors - and they are as agile as twenty-year-olds. Napa is only about 90 minutes from San Francisco if you need to go to a city. And just a few hours from Tahoe.

“Without music, life would be a mistake.”  

― Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols