A little business, a little pleasure...

It's been a busy non blogging few days.
Hope all is well with my buddies in bloggerland.
I will be away for the next 6 days and 5 nights.
Going to Cancun, Mexico.
Wanna come? Tequila on the beach!

5 fun facts for friday

1. if you combine wintergreen, vanilla, and cassia (a form of cinnamon) what well known flavor will you come up with?

2. which U.S. president stood only 5' 4" tall and weighed less than 100 pounds?

3. what story has been made into a movie more times than any other?

4. Director Alan Smithee has a claim to fame, what is it?

5. Can you tell the temperature by listening to the chirping of a cricket?

scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the answers.
how'd you do?

New Camera

Got it and love it!
I haven't learned all the features yet but I'm working on it.
I promise not to bore you with umpteen photos (except these) cause I have a photoblog for that. :-)

These were taken from the field across the road near where we live. There are big commercial "for sale" signs on the property. I'll be sad if they build here, it's such a beautiful sight to see every day, every season.

Child prodigy

When you have time, check out this story about 5 year old Kyle LoGrasso. It's a little long, but a good story.

5 fun facts for friday

1. Ben & Jerry's send the leftover waste from making icecream to local pig farmers. What is the only flavor the pigs won't eat?

2. What is samhainophobia?

3. Speaking of phobias. What did Sigmund Freud have a morbid fear of?

4. Who is the most recognized figure around the world? And who is the second most recognized?

5. Clint Eastwood and I are allergic to the same thing. What it is!?

make your guesses then scroll down to the bottom of the blog to see the answers. how many did you get right?

Freebies

It is a beautiful day here in upstate NY!

The fog was thick this morning but it quickly burned off to bright sunshine.

The day started at Panera having coffee with a friend.

That's always a good way to start the day.

Cause it's a great place to sit and chat, and they have free wifi and good caramel lattes.

The dishwasher and refrigerator (the icemaker to be exact) are getting fixed today.

For an unGodly, ridiculous amount of $$$$.

Things come in threes right? so.... dishwasher, refrigerator,

and ______? what's next?

Found this handy dandy little site for coupons.

It's not one of those lame "free coupon" sites that have worthless coupons, there are some pretty decent grocery store coupons here.
So for any coupon cutters, here you go.
Free Coupons

Enjoy your day.

I am lost....

without a camera.

Life just doesn't feel right.

Been doing the research and this will be the new camera:

the Nikon D40x wih the 55-200mm zoom lens.

It's a good starter digital SLR. Light and easy to handle.

and I've been saving my change for almost 11 months so tonight, I'm rolling it up. I also have a little hoard set aside from the new job.

Here's hoping it's enough!

Manic Monday

Mo's manic monday word for today is "bat".

Halloween is coming and Halloween makes me think of bats.

and bats make me think of Vampires.
and Vampires make me think of Vampire wine.
(yep, I can always draw a correlation to wine)

Vampire wine is very good,
if you haven't had some, give it a try.
They have merlot, cabernet sauvignon,
syrah, zinfandel and pinot noir for reds.



We served it at a "How to Host a Murder" party a couple years ago and now we buy some every year. How to Host a Murder parties are great fun! The games can be purchased online and their website gives you all the tools for your party. We went with a Halloween theme but there are lots of themes available. Check them out here .

"care for another glass of vampire wine, Count?"

so....party=wine=vampire=BAT

check out the other Manic Monday bat posts at Mo's place

Happy Birthday Punkin Head!

Our #1 Ryan child turns 23 today.
BIG birthday wishes for Jenna!
Hope your birthday is wonderful and the upcoming year exceeds your expectations.

and may the luck of the blarney stone always be with you....

Tell ten people....

to tell ten more.





It doesn't cost a thing.

Just click on the "tell ten people" link above and help women in need get a free mammogram.

Then tell 10 more to do the same and have them pass it on to ten more and so on.

Click daily.

If the breast cancer site gets 500 clicks in October their sponsor will fund 150 additional mammograms.

Then do it in the rest of the year too.

and next year...

thanks :-)

No five fun facts for friday

more anagrams instead!

GEORGE BUSH becomes HE BUGS GORE
THE EYES becomes THEY SEE
PRESBYTERIAN becomes BEST IN PRAYER
ELECTION RESULTS becomes LIES - LET'S RECOUNT
DESPERATION becomes A ROPE ENDS IT

want to see what anagrams you can make of your name? click here

(original "no five fun facts for friday" post here)

So what's the deal here?

Forgive the length of this post but I thought this might be of interest.

One of the boys came home last week and told me about a new drug going around school. Not your typical snort it, smoke it, swallow it kind of drug. Instead, a digital drug.

What are those you ask? I asked the same and he wasn't quite sure. "Some kind of sound thing you listen to and it makes you feel like you're on drugs"

Hmmm, so I did a little research and here is what I found -

Mind alteration through combinations of binaural beats and tones.
Based on a scientifc theory that's been around since 1839 and has been used for meditation, relaxation, or self-hypnosis.

There are many articles about binaural beats and you can get the basics here but what it boils down to is this - when two different tones are played in opposite ears, a beating sensation is created in the brain. This beating sensation is the effect of the conflicting electrical signals in your brain’s wiring. Stereo headphones are a necessity when trying to experience binaural beats because they allow a different frequency to be played in each ear. In experiments over the last century, binaural beats have been shown to create different states of consciousness within an individual. These states of consciousness are the result of different brain waves that can be induced in a person’s psyche through the beats.

I've gathered, through brief research on the net, there are those that support this theory and those that say it is bunk and has just a "placebo" effect.

I found a few websites who offer CDs of binaural beats as sleep aids, stress relief, and smoking cessation aids.

and then there is I-Doser

I-Doser markets these binaural beats and tones as "drugs"

To name a few-
Anesthesia
Cocaine
Crystal Meth
Ecstasy
Heroin
Marijuana

And there are other, non drug related, beats available-
lucid dreaming
french roast
orgasm

You purchase and download your "high" of choice from I-Doser.
You can also purchase CDs of multiple doses.
Grab your MP3 or CD player, plug in your headphones and listen to the binaural beats/tones, supposedly getting "high" from whatever "drug" you are listening to.

I-Doser lets their users know (on their FAQ page) that "I-Doser has received many emails from users who have had great experiences enhancing their recreational drug taking with doses supplied with I-Doser"

GREAT.

they also tell you how to make your "high" last longer and how to intensify the effects.

AND they provide testimonials:

"play the demerol just before bed, it writes you off!! fire alarm went off for about a hour and i couldnt move amazin experience, just paralyses me to the bed! word of warning to everyone else be careful when your on it"

YIKES! not what I'd want my teenager experiencing.

So does anyone have any thoughts, feedback or insight into this?

Is this just hype or is it something parents should be concerned about?

I'm still digging.

Manic Monday

The manic monday word for today is "Orange"
This was an easy one for me as I grew up near Syracuse, NY and worked at Syracuse University for 9 years. SU's team colors are blue and orange and our school mascot is "the orange"

But I thought, that's too easy.

So I chose something else to post about today.
What I visulize when I think of orange.

The Gates at Central Park.
An installation by Christo and Jean Claude.

It was February of 2005 and I tooke our 3 boys to NYC for the first time. It was a wonderful weekend and a great visual experience. Here are two photos from that weekend.

click on the photos for a closer look.

For more manic monday posts visit Mo at It's a Blog Eat Blog World