My Birthday Weekend

So my birthday was this past weekend and I did some fun things.

On Saturday night I went to Oishi Sushi in Temecula for some tasty foods. I drank some yummy Sake and had amazing sushi.

On Sunday I headed to Santee for my first ever outdoor bouldering experience. I rented some climbing shoes from Sport Chalet (8 bucks only!) and they worked out pretty well. The day was beautiful. I'm still sore from it. :)

After climbing and cleaning up I went out to dinner with some loved ones at Kemo Sabe restaurant in Hillcrest. It's a Japanese/Native American fusion restaurant and it was VERY tasty. I highly recommend the "Dim Sum and then Sum". The presentation was amazing. The food was delicious. This place has definitely made it to my top 5 restaurant list.


I ended my birthday festivities with a Gluten-Free Cooking Class at Sir La Table in Carlsbad. We made an amazing pasta with Swiss Chard, Dates, Artichokes, Kidney Beans and Rice Pasta. YUM! All in all it was a good weekend.

4 Trees

Here are pictures of 4 tree paintings I have done. To see more art go here.

April 15th

So today is tax day and it's also the 105th day of the year. For some it's not the most pleasant day of the year. It often means paying large sums of money to the federal and state government and we often can't remember why we do this. April 15th was not always the day to pay taxes though. In 1913 the filing deadline was March 1st! While taxes are a necessary evil (depending on who you ask), there are many other interesting things that have happened on April 15th. The following is a list of things that have happened on this day throughout US and world history.

Birthdays:

1469 Guru Nanak Dev, Founder of Sikhism
1492 Leonardo da Vinci, Rennaisance man
1843 Henry James, American novelist
1889 A. Philip Randolph, American Civil Rights Activist
1892 Bessie Smith, American Blues Singer
1959 Emma Thompson, British actress
1965 Linda Perry, American Singer, Songwriter and Producer
1968 Ed O'Brien, British Musician (Radiohead)
1982 Seth Rogen, Canadian Actor and Writer

Many more birthdays listed here

Deaths:

1865 Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States
1912 Edward Smith, Captain of the Titanic
1912 William T. Stead, American Author and Journalist (Died on the Titanic)
1980 Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and writer, Nobel laureate
1990 Greta Garbo, Swedish actress
2001 Joey Ramone, American musician and singer


Historical Events:

1892 The General Electric Company is formed.
1912 The British passenger liner, the RMS Titanic, sinks in the North Atlantic, after hitting an iceberg two and a half hours earlier, the previous day, killing over 1,500 people.
1923 Insulin becomes generally available for use by people with diabetes.
1924 Rand McNally publishes its first road atlas.
1947 Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball's color line.
1989 – Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in the People's Republic of China.
1992 – The National Assembly of Vietnam adopts the 1992 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
1994 – Representatives of 124 countries and the European Communities sign the Marrakesh Agreements revising the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and initiating the World Trade Organization (effective January 1, 1995).

First Dog

Media is swimming with the news of the Obamas finally getting a puppy. They decided on a Portuguese water dog. They named the dog "Bo" apparently after Michelle's father who's nickname was "Diddley" (after the famous Bo Diddley who was one of the founding fathers of Rock n Roll). The Obamas decided on a Portuguese water dog because Malia has allergies to dogs and it is one of the breeds that is somewhat hypo-allergenic. Portuguese water dogs, or "Porties", are known to be excellent companion dogs and have a great temperament. They also have webbed feet which helped with catching fish in Portugal (thus the name). They are expected to live 12 years but 14-16 years is not uncommon for a Portie.

Bo was a gift from senator Ted Kennedy and his wife. He was one of their dogs' littermates. Ted Kennedy (and his dog Splash) wrote a children's book called, "My Senator and Me: A Dog's Eye View of Washington, D.C. ". In this book, "we follow Senator Kennedy and Splash through a busy day in D.C., from press conferences to meetings with school groups to committee discussions to a floor vote. The result is an exciting, behind-the-scenes look at the life of one of the most energetic figures in American politics -- and, of course, his equally famous owner."

It's encouraging to see such admirable political people who are so in love with their dogs. I wish good luck to the Obamas in their newest adventures as dog owners.

Books I have been reading

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain- Betty Edwards
'Not only a book about drawing, it is a book about living. This brilliant approach to the teaching of drawing should not be dismissed as a mere text. It emancipates.' Los Angeles Times

My friend and I are reading this book and doing the lessons chapter by chapter. We are going to meet after every chapter and draw. I hope it helps me improve my drawing skills.


Autobiography of a Yogi- Paramhansa Yogananda
Paramhansa Yogananda was the first yoga master of India whose mission it was to live and teach in the West. In the 1920s, enthusiastic audiences filled the largest halls in America to hear him speak. His initial impact was truly impressive. But his lasting influence is greater still. This book, first published in 1946, helped launch, and continues to inspire, a spiritual revolution in the West. (From the back cover of the book)

I picked this book up for about a dollar in a little thrift store in Ventura. I have flipped through it several times and was inspired to pick it up again the other night after a discussion with a friend about spiritual phenomena and brain power. There is a part of this book that talks about a woman who refrains from food or drink for a very long period of time (years) without dying. Interesting book.

Vegan Fire & Spice: 200 Sultry and Savory Global Recipes- Robin Robertson
Whether you like your food mildly seasoned or boldly spiced, Vegan Fire & Spice is the go-to book for great-tasting and healthful global vegan recipes. --Neal Barnard, M.D., president of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

This book was a gift and I have been thumbing through it lately trying to find some good picks for a dinner party i want to have. There are so many options!

Winning Chess Strategies- Yasser Seirawan
This is the third of Seirawan's four-volume series, which takes the reader from chess greenhorn to a player advanced enough to understand grandmaster play. Here, Seirawan shows how to set long-range goals for a game and systematically gain a superior position...

I was browsing the bookstore for a Chess book. At the time I was completely green with little to no experience playing the game. I was just barely learning the rules. A guy approached me (surprised) asking if I was really looking for a Chess book. He had coincidentally been in the same aisle looking for something different but he had been playing competitive Chess since grade school. He told me I absolutely had to have this book. They didn't have it at the book store so I had to order it. Two weeks or so later and voila! I have a Chess book. I plan to get good enough to at least beat a couple of my friends ;).

White and Blue Peacock

The Peacock symbolizes many different things in various cultures. In Hinduism the Peacock is the vehicle (or Vahana) of the deity Skanda representing splendor, majesty and vanity. Ancient Christian belief was that the flesh of the peafowl did not decay and so the bird became a symbol of immortality and is represented in many early Christian mosaics and paintings. The list is long for things that the Peacock or it's feathers represent, but one thing can definitely be said to be true; it is certainly a beautiful and awe inspiring creature. The picture below is from a Flickr album and it's an albino peacock mixed with a blue peacock (both from India). It's amazing.

Art Work in Progress

So I am working on a painting for my cousin of the view off of her balcony. I am doing it with watercolor. Here is what it looks like so far. I want to make the colors a bit more bold and make the painting as a whole less traditional looking. I will post a picture of what it looks like when it's finished.

Also, I started an art blog that has a few contributors. Check our stuff out here.



















See more at http://mypeacockfeather.blogspot.com/

And it's made from PAPER!

I recently stumbled upon a website by the artist Peter Callesen. He makes these amazing works of art out of paper. I have posted a couple of his works here but go to his site to check out more!