Weekly finds – part 12

The other day I came across the "Now and Then" photo-pool on Flickr. What they do is this. They look for an old photo, try and find the place and recreate the shot so you end up with a “now & then” picture. Interesting to see how places (and people change) over the years.


More photos but these are a bit strange so let’s place these in the “Odd!” category ;) Shakeskin. How does it work? People place a camera in front of them, shake their face or Prrrr at it (they do what?), take the picture and send the result to the website. Some pictures are hilarious. Take a peek and don’t forget to check out the Prrrr section.

This weeks video: Harry Potter – the lost tapes!
Nah, it’s Harry Potter and the mysterious ticking noise!





As a kid I liked to play with my Spirograph and now I found this little gadget, not as cool as the original but fun too!




And that’s all folks, the last “Weekly finds” edition (for now). Well, to be honest, this is going to be my last entry (for now). I am quitting (for now)! Man, there are a lot “for now’s” in that little piece of text, aren’t there? :) But I am not sure if I am really going to quit or if I am just going to have another one of my (regular) breaks. Right now, I am not in the mood to blog and I truly believe there isn’t that much to write about anyway….. so, why bother. Maybe it’s time to get a life, spend some time doing other things, be outdoors more or maybe, just maybe it’s time for a change. Like I said, I don’t know yet, but I will let you know sooner or later. I’ll probably be back in a week (or two) to let you all know what my plans are.

In the meantime take care, enjoy spring and life, be kind, don’t forget to smile and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do ;)
C U l@er!

xoxo
Dakota

I was going to post something really spectacular…….honest!

No, I was NOT! The weather is much too nice (clear blue sky, sunshine and 16º C) to stay indoors. No way, am I going to sit here and stare at my computer screen. It’s time to clean up my garden! So I’ll be out getting my hands dirty! Oh and I will try (and I do mean try, so don’t expect too much) to come up with something I can post tomorrow :)

Cartoon Tuesday: friends *sigh* ;)

Mind, Body & Soul Session (#34)

Instant Mood Busters

We all have to do our (daily) chores and errands. Some of them are fun and others are really horrible. Some might even be so ghastly that they never get done. A shame really, because getting things done, completing a task, crossing it of your list, can make you feel like a winner and can give you a big lift.

Here are some tasks you can complete in a mere 5, 15 or 30 minutes. Pick one whenever you have some time to spare, and watch how it gets the ball rolling.

5 minutes to spare……

Write down some chores you’ve already completed, just so you can cross them of your list.

Water your plants.

Have a look at all those receipts you keep in your wallet or your purse. Throw away every single one you don’t need anymore.

Eat a piece of fruit.

Clean your mirror and say “Hello, beauty!”

Make that doctors/dentist appointment you've been putting off for ages.

Make your bed

Write checks for bills that are due next month

Make a fun appointment. Call a friend, a relative or a acquaintance for a fun appointment to look forward to.

Order tickets for that play or concert you want to go to.

15 minutes...

Apply a facial mask

Empty all the garbage bins and take out the trash. Oh, and don’t forget the 3R’s - Reduce, reuse, recycle.

Iron one of your favourite things.

Clean out that drawer, you know the one with all the dried-out pens, old notes and receipts, dried out elastic bands, etc. Don’t haven one? Clean your sock or underwear drawer instead.

Answer an e-mail.

Replace one of your regular light bulbs with an energy saving one.

Meditate or do breathing exercises - relaxation is an assignment too.

30 minutes to spare...

Weed a flower bed or mow the lawn.

Read one chapter of a book.

Buy birthday cards or gifts for all the friends and family members who turn one year older next month.

Swap your framed pictures. Replace some of the older photos with photos of more recent memories.

Call that person you've been meaning to call for the past three months or write (yes, by hand) a letter or card to a friend who lives far away.

Surf the web to gather ideas for your next outing, weekend trip, theatre visit or vacation.

Give yourself a pedicure

Turn off your cell phone, close your e-mail, and enjoy 30 minutes of quiet and go for a walk.

Whatever you do, have a fantastic Sunday :)

Tagged!

I have been tagged by DoGGa, so let's do this.

A- Available or Single? – Can you be one without the other? So, I guess both is the correct answer here. Maybe the original question was Available or Taken?

B- Best Friends? – Jacqueline & Deborah

C- Cake or Pie? – Pie

D- Drink of Choice? – Water, coffee and if we are talking alcoholic beverages, I tried a Bacardi Mojito Bold yesterday and actually liked it :)

E- Essential item? – iPod

F- Favourite Colour? – Today it is black

G- Gummi Bears or Worms? – Gummi Bears

H- Hometown? – Spijkenisse, the Netherlands

I- Indulgence? – The spa

J- January or February? – January, it always feels great when all the celebrations are over.

K- Kids and Names? – huh….kids? What kids, whose names? I am confused here! ;)

L- Life is incomplete without? – Self-confidence and a smile

M- Marriage Date? – Marriage? I never got married and I am never going to!

N- Number of Siblings? – One older brother

O- Oranges or Apples? – Definitely Apples, Granny Smith!

P- Phobias/Fears? – Heights

Q- Favourite Quote? – One of many: “Life is not about how many breaths you take, but about the number of moments that take your breath away”

R- Reasons to smile? – What’s not to smile about!

S- Season? – Right now: Spring.

T- Tag 3 People? – I usually not do this but this time I will. Let see: AOJ, Lord Hutton, KJ’s Muse you are all invited; accept if you feel like it!

U- Unknown Fact About Me? – My body temperature is below average

V- Vegetable You Hate? – Curly kale and sprouts

W- Worst Habit? – Interrupting (but I am working on that)

X- X-rays You've Had? – Dental X rays every couple of years

Y- Your Favourite Foods? – Chinese, Italian, Mexican, salmon, trout

Z- Zodiac? – Libra

Weekly finds – part 11.

Two interesting sites for people who like to travel:

The Grand Canyon Skywalk is a new glass bridge at the Grand Canyon. According to the site: “The Skywalk will be the first-ever cantilever shaped glass walkway to suspend more than 4,000 feet above the canyon’s floor and extend 70 feet from the canyon’s rim.” Brrr Scary!!!. I don’t think it’s the thing for me, it tried to hike down the canyon once and it wasn’t a huge hit! So, would you take a walk on it?

Going to visit a hip and happening city any time soon, then this might interest you. "Hotchpots.com is a well-organized and critical internet guide with only the most special restaurants in big cities. Hotchpots.com has a team of local spotters in eight cities already, who visit and describe new and special restaurants each week. From trendy club restaurants to crazy luncheon spots." Check it out before you travel because everyone needs to eat somewhere :)

And now something completely different for all the people who never want to stop learning: Free University Lectures . Categories: Physics, computer science, mathematics and a faculty mix.






And of course we can’t live without a bit of (strange) Art. Have you seen this?










I am going to skip the video-post this week, so maybe this site will be entertaining enough for you: Games for the Brain. “Play never-ending quizzes, memory & brain games to train your thinking”

It’s a new season and it’s time for a change!

Oh my, a change, how scary ;) Yup, I know and I am shaking in my boots…..NOT! Well not yet at least, because before I can change the things I want to change (a.k.a. move forward) I need to get some other things back to “normal” first. Things like my daily “start-the-day-with-a-bit-of-yoga”, “30-minutes- workout” and the “taking-a-lunch-walk” routine.

After my friends prolonged stay and the will-I-get-the-flu-or-not-period, there was nothing left of my normal routine and now that I am not getting the flu I think it’s time to start again, so that I can add new things (not telling you what they are yet) in April. I feel a song comin’ on :)

I hope you are feeling great too, if not, maybe this will cheer you up!
It's SPRING!

Spring!

Goodbye, snow and ice
Goodbye, dark and grey skies
Goodbye, storm and rain
Goodbye, SAD and your reign
Goodbye, WINTER!

Hello there, warm sunshine
Hello there, cloud nine
Hello there, beautiful butterfly
Hello there, lovely blue sky
Hello there, SPRING!

Goodbye winter, see you next year.
Hello Spring, I am so glad you are finally here!

What's your visual DNA?

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

If you want to read mine, follow the link and click the file folder.

Cartoon Tuesday: How to talk yourself into a depression.

Pizza du Jour: Mediterranean Puff Pizza

Last week I came across this recipe and I’ve made it last Saturday.
Verdict: Easy to make and just delicious!

Type: Mediterranean (vegetarian)

Serves: 2 (or 1 one if you are really hungry, or 4 if you use it for a snack)

Preparation time in minutes: 20 minutes & oventime 20 minutes

Contains per single serving:
605 Kcalories - protein 4 g, fat 41 g – carbohydrates 41 g

Ingredients:
375g ready made puff pastry, thawed if frozen
2 big plum(or breakfast) tomatoes
1 courgette
1 onion
1 mozzarella cheese
4 table spoons of green pesto
Salt & Pepper

Method:
Preheat oven to fan 200C/conventional 225C (or check the instructions on the package).

Wash and slice the tomatoes and the courgette, thinly slice the onion and slice the mozzarella.

Unfold the pastry on a lightly flowered surface. Roll into 30 x 30 cm square and place on a baking sheet. Prick the pastry with a fork.

Bake for 5 minutes.

Spread the pesto over the crust and place the vegetables and mozzarella on top.

Season with salt and fresh ground pepper.

Put the pizza back in the oven and bake for another 20 minutes.

Really yummy with a green salad.

Enjoy!

Mind, Body & Soul Session (#33)

Give more than you take

“It’s better to give than to receive”, that’s probably a phrase we’ve all heard more than once in our life. But how do you give something away you have not yet received yourself? How can you be a generous contributor when the whole world is trying to take everything away from you? Life/work/family/friends are taking your time, your resources and probably anything you might have to spare.

Isn’t it funny how we associate generosity with the giving of things we have loads of? But generosity is much more than searching out pockets for extra cash, volunteering our spare time, or donating our surplus stuff. Being truly generous is not about giving away the things we can spare; it’s about recognizing the needs of, and caring about others in a way that makes you want to find ways to give more. Generosity doesn’t have to come in the form of cash, it can come in the subtle interactions you have each day, interactions like holding the door for people, forgiving someone, being patient, letting others go first, greet a stranger, being humble, smile, show an interest, pay attention, or just simply praise someone. See? You don’t have to have in order to give; you just need to give in order to receive.

Huh? That doesn’t sound right “Give in order to receive”……we aren’t suppose to keep score, are we? You are so right! We don’t give to receive, but as you begin to give more of yourself, you increase your capacity to give and to experience love, joy and happiness. Generosity is like a muscle, the more you use it, it the stronger it gets. The more good we do, the more we are able to do and the more joy, love, happiness and smiles we are going to receive in return. So, go out there and love instead of having to be loved, comfort instead of having to comforted, listen instead of talk, forgive instead of having to be forgiving, be there for someone instead of needing someone and give instead of receive. Give more than you take…..be generous!

Oh and in case you find this too hard, don’t worry. Giving away some of the stuff you’ve accumulated over the years is fulfilling too. Giving something away, even your spare cash, can bring you deep abiding joy :)

Be generous, spread some kindness and have a great Sunday!

Weekly finds – part 10.

If you like parody movies because they make fun of the originals, visit the 30-second Bunnies Theatre in which a troupe of bunnies parodies a collection of movies by re-enacting them in 30 seconds, more or less.


Or just watch: The situation with iRack



Think you know it all? Think again! Put your knowledge to the test and try this fun and interesting game and who knows, you might even find out you don’t know jack !


Dead by beard?! Austrian Hans Steininger was famous for having the world’s longest beard (it was 4.5 feet or nearly 1.4 m long) and for dying because of it.
One day in 1567, there was a fire in town and in his haste Hans forgot to roll up his beard. He accidentally stepped on his beard, lost balance, stumbled, broke his neck and died!” This is just one of the 30 strangest Deaths in history. Want to know the other 29, go here.

The nightmare ends here! - A friendly update.

Yesterday, my friend got his lumbar puncture results back. They did find an increased level of protein but that was probably caused by some blood they found in the cerebrospinal fluid (the blood probably got in there when they did the first lumbar puncture and failed).

So according to the neurologist my friend is just fine. He probably had an inflammation in the brain area 8 weeks ago, but 99.9 percent of all the symptoms are gone now! He has to have a check-up next month and a new MRI after 3 months, but that's it for now.

My friend can start living again! Hooray :)

Cartoon Tuesday: Don’t ask so many questions!

Mind, Body & Soul Sessions (#32)

Live in the here and now.

Here is a shocking fact: 92 percent of the time most of us are either living in the future or the past and forget about the here and now. We anticipate future events, worry or think about them and are busy making plans. On the other hand we can regret previous decisions, can’t stop thinking about mistakes or mishaps, or keep thinking about how life was better way back when……

It’s a shame to discover that most of us are engaged in the here and now only 8 percent of our waking hours. Does that mean that you should stop making plans? No, of course not! You got to have things to look forward to, but I would like to suggest you stop dwelling on previous stuff. You can’t change the past (okay you can change the way you feel about past events, but that’s a different story), but you can ruin the present and future by worrying about the past. So maybe it’s time to let go and step into the here and now! Today: try to focus on the here and now for a day and see how it feels, after all it’s like John Lennon once said “Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans”.

Weekly finds - part 9

I haven’t been online all that much this week so there isn’t a lot to share.

I did find this video though, not an amusing one, but still IMHO a video that needs to be shared.



After that you might need some cheering up, so take a look at this. Cheerful and colourful paper art by Jen Stark. Just go to the sculpture section.





Or how about this? After the inflatable girlfriend, they have come up with something new…… an inflatable pub. Must be every man’s dream ;)

The birds are back!

Last year I wrote about the Peregrine Falcons who were raising a family on top of a radio/TV tower. Well great news, Mum and Dad are back and they are starting a new family :) Mum has laid her first egg last Tuesday.

If you are interested you can take a look inside the nest box or watch Mum and Dad come and go here.

No Mind, Body & Soul Session today.

I tried really hard to come up with something new today, but I can’t so I give up because I am too busy with taking care of my own mind, body and soul! I’ve been fighting off the flu the last couple of days. Up until now, I seem to have been lucky and didn’t come down with it, but I can feel my body fighting it. In other words, I feel lousy….. but hey I rarely get sick so I will probably feel better soon! For those of you are feeling the same way…..Get well soon!

To everyone else, have a wonderful Sunday!

Weekly finds – part 8

The oldest blogger in the world?
Olive Riley lives in Australia and was born in 1899 and is now, age 108 107, probably the oldest blogger in the world. She has a blog helper called Mike and together they post about her day to day life and her amazingly clear memories of her colourful life. And oh, she doesn’t call her blog a blog but a blob :)


Could you shutdown your computer for one day?
From the site:
"It is obvious that people would find life extremely difficult without computers, maybe even impossible. If they disappeared for just one day, would we be able to cope? Be a part of one of the biggest global experiments ever to take place on the internet. The idea behind the experiment is to find out how many people can go without a computer for one whole day, and what will happen if we all participate! Shutdown your computer on this day and find out! Can you survive for 24 hours without your computer?"
If you think you can, or can’t, let them know here

England Rocks
England Rocks is the perfect site if you want to know everything about a lot of famous rock cities like Liverpool and London and the locations associated with some of the greatest musicians and bands from the 50s to present day. From The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Queen to Oasis, Robbie Williams and Arctic Monkeys. You can also explore birthplaces and hangouts of legendary rock stars, locations that inspired famous albums and song lyrics, great music venues and the variety of festivals and gigs taking place around the country.


String spin is a nice place to get creative. Just click version 1 or 2, draw something and watch your creation evolve.



Feeding the Homeless