Massive Sinkhole in Carlsbad

To quote Avelino on Twitter, my source for the link, "Oh crap"


Oil industry sinkhole threatens to swallow city

Having lived in Carlsbad for a while, I could make some flippant joke, but I won't. This is a pretty freaking serious problem.

Carlsbad and the surrounding areas have been pretty well mangled due to oil and potash mining. I believe it was only a matter of time that something like this happened.

Sometimes it takes something huge to create a wake up call.

Got the good town of Carlsbad on my mind today!

A different idea for a Fall decoration

It was long strange series of clicks that landed me on a particular page, written in Russian, but with a really wonderful series of how-to photos on making roses from maple leaves.

Maple leaves?

Yes!

I was sort of suspicious at first. Was this going to be hard?

And to make it worse, I don't have a Maple tree anywhere nearby. By looking at the photos, it was clear that for this project, you'd need big leaves.

As I gazed out my window, pondering, my eyes landed on the changing leaves of my fig tree.

And so...I carefully collected flexible leaves, brought them inside, followed the photographs...and produced:

Pretty cool, huh?

The fig leaves sort of ooze a fluid when they break, so they may not be the best choice, but they worked!

Oh, and as an afterthought, I tried Google translation...heh a TOTAL afterthought.

Here's the page again, in English.

But honestly, the crafter has done such a fabulous job of step by step photos, who needs words!

Oh Sammy. Why?

*sigh*

Corked bats.

Steroids.

And now this?

Sammy Sosa says skin rejuvenation process reason his skin appears lighter

This is the awesome

Oh, I know, as a seller on Etsy, I should be offended.

But I'm not.

I'm laughing my butt off.

Regretsy

While you were toiling away...

...answering emails, suffering the slings and arrows and the whims of management, teaching kids, making deals, working hard, feeling stressed, wondering what it is all about....

This seagull was eating a starfish.

Just thought you'd want to know.

(click image to enlarge, you'll be glad you did. You'll be able to see that he's noshing with his eyes closed. Like this is a super tasty treat. You know how you close your eyes and mmmmm when something is especially tasty. Think of that when you look at this photo)

Image by Karen Fayeth

She's here, She's Here!!

Here's the display of the new Crafty Chica products from my very own local store!

And yes, I did procure several items, I couldn't help myself!

Check this list from The Crafty Chica blog to find a store near you!!

And so...what exactly is this creature?

There is a whole tree of these encroaching on my back yard. The tree isn't *in* my yard, it has roots next door, but seems to favor drooping its heavy laden boughs over our fence and dropping its hard skinned orangey fruits on our ground to rot.

I'm told these bad boys are persimmons. Okay, I wasn't told. I eavesdropped on a conversation my neighbor had with a guest. The guest said "Oh! You have persimmons!"

So. There you go.

I have no idea what a persimmon is. Or what to DO with a persimmon. Or what might be good about having a persimmon tree.

I was overwhelmed with joy at the summertime bounty from the apricot tree in our side yard.

But this...this Fall persimmony crop leaves me...unsure.

They sure do make purty pictures tho!

I'm taking a photography class, so be prepared, blog readers. You may have to look at some stuff.

In other news, may the bird of paradise fly up your nose.

That is all from my Sunday backyard wanderings.

My (new) People!

My personal genetic heritage is what The Good Man calls "your typical Heinz 57 pan-European".

I'm German-Irish-Scottish-French.

And raised in New Mexico, so I have Hispanic roots, too.

The Good Man is Italian-English-Turkish-Lebanese.

Also a Heinz 57, but much different from my own. These are not all cultures I have a lot of background with, so I'm having a ball learning about my new family heritage.

My rock star Mom-in-Law (the Turkish/Lebanese side) has taught me much about delicious Mediterranean food. (I thought I'd had falafel before. I had not. I'd had a poor imitation. There is a HUGE difference).

Man, I can't believe how long I've been missing out on the good stuff!

And of course, I've always loved Italian food, but oh I had lots to learn.

Like coffee. Now, I like coffee. Ok, I love coffee. It doesn’t always love me back (acidy!). I try to cut back, but can't. And it's not even the caffeine that's a problem! I drink decaf!

I was holding strong, but then my Mom-in-Law gave us a peculiar little device called a Moka Pot. Ok, she gave it to us a while ago, but I've suddenly grown an unnatural attachment to it.

It looks like this.

Big deal, right? Just another way to make coffee?

No.

Oh no, no, no.

It's just another way to make THE MOST DELICIOUS COFFEE EVER!

It's way easy to use. Kind of fun, actually, and makes coffee super fast and delicious!

You don't need some fancy high dollar espresso machine! You need this little pot and a burner. And some coffee to go in there.

Details on how to use it from my Mom-in-Law's blog, Musing By Moonlight (used with permission).

__________________

What is more delightful than an espresso (that's eSpresso, not eXpresso) to help move through the day or a caffè correto to end a good dinner and aid digestion? This is an easy-to-learn process using a Bialleti Moka Express, an aluminum stove-top espresso maker. It's well worth the negligible effort. I prefer the moka pot to a machine because I feel more connected to the process and the product, it takes up less real estate in the kitchen, and it's budget wise.

Always, we start with the freshest ingredients: water - clear, cold, and filtered - and freshly ground dark-roasted coffee. My coffee of choice is Peet's Espresso Forte® . Have it ground on #3. Buy it when you know you will use it right away, even if you purchase beans and grind them at home.

The Bialetti Moke Express comes in three parts: the reservoir for water, a coffee filter with funnel for the grounds, and a top piece to capture the espresso as it bubbles up from the bottom. This coffee pot comes in various sizes to make coffee for just two or for up to twelve.

(This is Karen, here's a photo:

)

Directions:

Fill the reservoir with water to just below the steam valve. Put the coffee filter in place and fill it with grounds, tamping them lightly with the back of the spoon. Screw the top piece in place.

Put the Moka Express on the highest heat. Watch it because it is quickly done. The espresso will gather in the top chamber. Serve immediately. Sweeten if you like. If you care to, you might add either a lemon peel or, for a caffè correto(corrected), a little grappa.

Caffè latte: One shot fresh, hot espresso for each six ounces of steamed dairy, nut, soy or hemp milk, your choice.
__________________________

Oh coffee heaven! I like mine with half and half and brown sugar.

I'm starting to like my new genetic heritage! A lot.

(By the by, while I prefer to use Peet's coffee too, since I've been cutting back on expenditures, I'm trying a decaf Italian (water processed) I found at Trader Joe's. Delicious!)

Best Line of the World Series

Heard on my local radio sports talk show.

"So the Yankees had their World Series celebration today. I understand that team manager Joe Girardi spoke. Yeah, he got about half way through the speech, then called Mariano Rivera in to finish for him."

: rim shot :

(if you watched any of the American League Post Season, you'll find this not so much funny as shake your head true)

The lovely, genteel, delicate flowers of New Mexico

Hamburger NOT with the ladies who play soccer!

An instructional video for the husbands and boyfriends, maybe?

Oh Bliss!

Crafty Chica products returning to Michaels Stores!

Love, love, love all of The Crafty Chica products. When her fabulous items were in stores last year, I made my husband pull off the road to the store in Gilroy (hello, Gilroy? Sooo far away) so I could see if they had the charms, as all three of the stores closer to me were out.

Did I mention...this was on our *honeymoon*? Yup.

That's what The Crafty Chica product line means to me!! (check out my Etsy store, as I use Crafty Chica glitters in much of my work!)

Click the link above for details on which stores will carry the products!

Tomorrow The Crafty Chica unveils the new products on her blog.

I can't wait. : happy jig :

Management...hamburger style

Currently, at the building across the way, there are some gentlemen hard at work putting a new roof on the two-story structure.

Roofing has got to be some grueling, backbreaking work, and they've been toiling at this for a few days now.

About an hour ago, all work went quiet over there. I thought maybe they were on a break. They weren't on a break.

It appears they were having a little conference. What they'd call in the corporate world, a "root cause analysis".

I suspect they discovered what, or rather, whom was at the center of the mistake, because I could then hear the supervisor of this project having a one-on-one mentoring conversation, loudly, with his employee.

Let's keep this a family friendly post...for all the instances of the eff word, I will substitute a more appropriate word.

Oh let's have fun with it, let's use the word "hamburger."

Here we go, a faithful recounting of this clearly very hands on and empathetic manager as he guides his employee through a big error.

Remember: hamburger = eff word

"You hamburgered up. You hamburgered this whole thing up. I didn't hamburger up. All the rest of these hamburgering guys didn't hamburger this thing up. What in the hamburgering hell were you thinking? You weren't thinking and you hamburgered this hamburgering thing all to hell. What the hamburger, man?! What the hamburger happened?"

: sound of employee mumbling, trying to explain his reason for hamburgering everything up :

"You what? You what? Who the hamburger told you to do that? I sure as hell didn't hamburgering tell you to do that! Now this whole hamburgering project is running behind and that costs hamburgering money? Do you get that? Do get that you’ve cost every hamburgering one of us some hamburgering time and some hamburgering money?"

: more mumbling :

"Aw man, what the hamburger. Get back to work!"

And with that, all the machines started up again, the smell of tar once again filled the air, and the team of folks got back to roofing.

This, among the many reasons why I feel so fortunate to be able to work a white collar gig. I'm pretty hamburgering sure that if my boss ever talked to me that way, I'd have a pretty good hamburgering lawsuit I'd think about.

Have you ever had a *really* bad day at work?

Betcha it was no where near the bad day this guy had. Whoa!

Every once in a while...

You know, my move to California, lo these many years ago, was really a life changing event for me.

Both a mind blower and a mind stretcher, to be sure.

I never really realized how small my world was until I expanded the reach.

In the first several years I lived here, I explored a lot, and I learned to perfect the face that was outwardly calm, while inside my mind was shouting "HOLY EVER LOVING CRAP, DID YOU **SEE** THAT!?!?!?"

I didn't want people think I was a rube, so I learned to keep my shock and awe to myself, as much as possible. Though many times, my natural exuberance took over and it all burbled out.

I mean, in my time here in the big ol' Bay Area, I've seen some pretty wild things.

Ok, by way of example in the first six months living here, I saw my first true campy transvestite. At well over 6'5", she was dressed as Diana Ross. And spectacularly beautiful. And very sweet too, she was lovely to me.

I just didn't really get to see stuff like that where I grew up.

Over the years, a fantastically beautiful transvestite has become but one of an ever growing list things that has blown my mind.

So, this weekend, I had another occasion to have my mind stretched a bit, again.

On Sunday, I went to an event at a local spiritual bookshop. It was a presentation to be given by a Tibetan Monk.

(Yes, yes, I know transvestite to Tibetan Monk is a wild, weird shift in just the course of the first 280 words of this post. Stick with me.)

Ok, yes, so ok. You went to see a Tibetan Monk, blah, blah, blah, how very new age of you. So what, right?

Well, here's the thing. It was a very small event. And by a series of fortunate circumstances, I was given a seat in the front row.

For three hours I sat there less than five feet away from a genuine Tibetan Monk wearing red robes and speaking the Tibetan language.

I heard him speak of his personal experience of being imprisoned by the Chinese and brutally tortured for teaching Buddhism.

You can hear and read stories of torture. You can have a generalized knowledge that these things happen in the world.

But then when a real human being sits there before you and generously tells their story and shares their pain...well, ok, *pop* goes my brain pan.

I am not a practitioner of Buddhism, nor am I here to advocate any sort of political or religious agenda.

I'm actually more just talking from the mind of a little girl who grew up in New Mexico.

I was very touched and very moved by the talk given by this man. I also envied his inner peace and vowed to try to find but a molecule of that within myself.

I've faced some bumpy roads over the past year of my life. Been holding some anger for some people who have been less than kind to me.

When Phagyab Rinpoche said that compassion is the antidote to anger, I listened.

I don't have answers, but I do believe that your life is changed by all the people you meet on the road we call life.

That red robed Tibetan monk got me thinking. And thinking is good. Thinking can lead to healing.

I could use some healing.