Wordless Wednesday- Artwork # 2 (Architecture)

Wordless Wednesday- Artwork # 1

What is Wordless Wednesday?

To maintain some consistency in my blog, I am participating in the blogosphere phenomena that is "Wordless Wednesdays". On Wednesdays all over the internet, bloggers post a photograph with no words to explain it on their blog. The idea is that the photo itself says so much that it doesn’t need any description. I am hoping this will motivate me to post more often. Since the theme of my blog is (making) lists (and following them), I will start with posting my five favorite artworks. First picture coming next! 

Japan Earthquake

          A massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit the Pacific Ocean nearby Northeastern Japan at 2:46pm on March 11 causing damage with blackouts, fire and tsunami. The new threat to the area is the nuclear leak that is causing radiation among the residents. More than 10,000 people have been reported missing and the number is rising. 


         What is even more alarming and scary to learn is that this massive earthquake shifted the balance of the planet. According to an article I read online "Japan has actually moved the island closer to the United States and shifted the planet's axis. The 9.0 magnitude quake (the fourth-largest recorded since 1900) was caused when the Pacific tectonic plate dove under the North American plate, which shifted Eastern Japan towards North America by about 13 feet. The quake also shifted the earth's axis by 6.5 inches, shortened the day by 1.6 microseconds, and sank Japan downward by about two feet. As Japan's eastern coastline sunk, the tsunami's waves rolled in.
After seeing the pictures and videos online one can only think about how this sudden devastation can change your entire life and certainly puts things in perspective. It makes you feel grateful for what you have. My heart goes out to those affected.

Vintage Photo Shoot

Last year (I believe it was October 22nd) I had a photo shoot with a Bay Area based photographer Jill Johnson. I wanted to do this to selfishly preserve something to show my future progeny that I was "easy on the eyes" ;) You may not know, but I loved 40's and 50's time period. It seems so romantic, simple, and stylish-of course that limited opinion is based on the classic movie titles I have watched. Anyways, I had told her that I wanted a vintage inspired photo shoot-think The Notebook and the end product came out more fabulous than I thought it would.

Part of the package was a makeup and costume change. Tia drove down from Oregon and brought all sorts of fun costumes and makeup for me to use. It was so much fun playing dress up and the pictures came out AMAZING. The shoot was in the middle of downtown San Jose. I was very nervous and self conscious, but it got kinda fun once we got into it. Coincidently, we met with an actor (a Clint Eastward impersonator) who thought I was an actual a modal.

We shot in a hotel lobby, staircase, elevator and lounge area. Then the last shoot was in a telephone booth that one would find in UK. Love that part! I finally got the album last week and I wanted to compliment Jill Johnson on her work. Both her and Tia made it a memorable experience for me and I would definitely recommend Jill to anyone.

I Heart Television

Today, I decided that I will make a list of television shows that I  enjoyed as a child (the ones I remember at least). This will help me retain some good memories from my childhood when I used to watch these shows with my cousins, brother, and sometimes myself. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a particular favorite of ours. I loved Michelangelo! During our many games of make-believe I would be assigned the role of April (since I was the only girl among my cousins), but I fought to be Michelangelo.  Here it goes...
(in no particular order)

Cartoons

• The Adventures of Popeye 
• Alvin and the Chipmunks
• Denver the Last Dinosaur 
• The New Scooby Doo Mysteries 
• Care Bears
• Captain Planet
• Flintstones  
• Gumby 
• Heathcliff 
• The Incredible Hulk 
• The Jetsons 
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 
• Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs
• Smurfs 
• Thundercats 
• Tom and Jerry
• Darkwing Duck
• Rugrats
• Maya the bee
• Tiny Toon Adventures 
• Loony Toons 
• Magic School Bus
• Bobby's World 
• Animaniacs 
• The Simpsons 
• X-Men
• The Land before Time 
• Sailor Moon 
• Pepper Ann
• Eureka's Castle 
• Yogi Bear
• Gargoyles
• Tex Avery Stuff
• Pokemon (Ali got me into this!) 
• Power Rangers (another show Ali and I bonded over)
• Duck Tales 

Regular Programs

• Sesame Street
• Mr. Roger's Neighborhood
• Sweet Valley High School
• Baby Sitters' Club
• Goosebumps
• Wishbone
• Clarissa Explains it All
• Blossom 
• Saved by the Bell

Remember Nickelodeon Jr face!

Sameeha

How cute is she?

My niece Sameeha is going to be turning two in exactly one week. It is amazing how fast she has grown up. Sometimes it is hard to believe that only a couple of years ago she was a tiny baby swaddled in a crib. I thought it would be fun to write down some facts about her so we can look back and remember what she was like around this age. Here we go...

She loves...
... bollywood songs, (or any opportunity to listen to music). Her favorite song is "Desi Girl".
... her favorite T.V. shows Word World and Sesame Street
... talking (she has a vast volcabularly in both Urdu and English and can already speak in full sentences)
... to dance especially to the "balle balle" song
... french fries
... childwatch
... loves to sing along "hookey pookey" and do the moves
... read books. She especially likes Thomas the engine books.
... learning
...socializing with her friends at childwatch. She knows each of them by name.
... going down slides
... watching videos on YouTube especially the classic nursery rhymes.
... sleeping in her bed.


She does not love...
... baths
... cold weather
... eating. She usually eats yogurts and french fries.
... staying in one place

Fun things to do with her....

One last look before the red carpet...

Her Oscar dress

Getting her hair done

Tomato and Eggplant Towers

I stumbled upon this recipe when I was reading a children's book on gardening. The towers looked so delicious in the book so I thought I'd give it a try and discovered one of my new favorite things to cook. I have made it many times in the last few months and it has become quite a favorite in my household. Enjoy!

• 6 large ripe tomatoes cut in half
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 8 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 tbsp sea salt and ground black pepper
• 1 large eggplant, thinly sliced
• pinch of paprika
• 8 tbsp of plain yogurt
• 2 tbsp of honey
• 4 tbsp blanched almonds, chopped

1. Preheat oven 300 F
2. Lay the tomatoes cut-side up on a cookie sheet. Mix the garlic and Italian seasoning with the salt, pepper, and half the olive oil. Spoon this over the tomatoes.
3. Bake in the oven for 2-3 hours. Allow to cool.
4. Layer the slices of eggplant in a colander, sprinkling a little salt between each layer. Leave for 30 minutes then rinse well with water and dry.
5. Place the eggplant slices in a large bowl, pour over the rest of the olive oil, and sprinkle with a little paprika. Toss together with your hands.
6. Heat a ridged griddle pan and then add a single layer of the eggplant slices. Cook each side until tender. Place the slices on a plate. Repeat for the other slices.
7. To serve, create towers by piling up the eggplant slices and tomato halves in alternate layers. Drizzle two tbsp of yogurt over each tower.
8. Pour on some honey and sprinkle with chopped almonds.
Viola!

Wonders of the World

       

In about a month, I will be traveling to Peru to see one of the wonders of the world, Macchu Picchu. I had been chewing on the idea for quite some time, so, needless to say, I am quite excited about visiting this country. 

While doing the research for this trip, I came up with another topic for my blog. Various lists of the Wonders of the World have been compiled from antiquity to the present day, to catalogue the world's most spectacular natural wonders and manmade structures (citation: Wikipedia). So I am going to focus on some of these lists. The green text indicates what I have seen and the red text indicates what I want to see. 

 The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World:

• Great Pyramid of Giza
• Hanging Gardens of Babylon
• Statue of Zeus at Olympia
• Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
• Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus
• Colossus of Rhodes
• Lighthouse of Alexandria

The list known today was compiled in the Middle Ages—by which time many of the sites were no longer in existence. Today, the only ancient world wonder that still exists is the Great Pyramid of Giza (which explains why that is the only one typed in red :)).

The Wonders of the Middle Ages: 

• Stonehenge
• Colosseum
• Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa
• Great Wall of China
• Porcelain Tower of Nanjing
• Hagia Sophia
• Leaning Tower of Pisa

The New Seven Wonders of the World:

• Chichenitza, Mexico 
• Christ the Redeemer, Brazil
• Colosseum, Italy
• Great Wall of China, China
• Macchu Picchu, Peru
• Petra, Jordan
• Taj Mahal, India 

If you would like to vote for the new wonders of nature, check out the website: http://www.new7wonders.com/en/the_whole_world_of_new7wonders/the_official_new_7_wonders_of_the_world/  and cast your vote.