Best Places to live - NaBloPoMo #8

I was reading this article today and it listed the 10 best places to live in the USA, given the current economic condition, health care coverage availability, jobs availability and crime rate, amongst others. The listing is

1. Albuquerque, N.M.
2. Auburn, Ala.
3. Austin, Texas
4. Boise, Idaho
5. Durham, N.C.
6. La Crosse, Wis.
7. Loveland, Colo.
8. San Luis Obispo, Calif.
9. St. Augustine, Fla.
10. Upper St. Clair, Pa.

I was and still am pleased to see Albuquerque, Austin, San Luis Obispo and St.Augustine in this list. I have not been to other cities listed and what I know from these four cities is that they are pretty liberal in their thoughts, rich in cultural heritage and are located next to water bodies.

Did you know that
1. Albuquerque, like Santa Fe, hosts many Native American pueblos and reservations in and around the area.
2. Austin is the most liberal town in conservative Texas and is the music capital of the state and possibly the country.
3. San Luis Obispo is a quaint little town right in the middle of LA and SFO, with gorgeous views to the Pacific ocean and eclectic shops around.
4. St.Augustine is the first town in the USA where the first and the oldest mission from Europe was established in the USA!

I don't know any tidbits about the other places listed but I am sure they would have some unique cultural history about them that makes it to the best places to live!

Volunteering - NaBloPoMo #7

Lately, I have become more active in the community. I used to volunteer at a nursing home earlier but I was only a "follower" at that time. Then I became the Volunteer Coordinator for the 2009 DFW Dragon Boat Festival. The festival was such a huge success and the back breaking work that went into the coordination and the amazing effect that Volunteers have on one's life gave me such immense satisfaction that I almost felt like I have received my calling.

One of the web sites that I constantly use is Volunteer Match. Not only can this web site be used to satisfy your volunteering needs, you can use it to figure out what is it that you can do that will help leverage and showcase your strengths!

Go Volunteers Go!

"Finding your inner voice" - NaBloPoMo #6

I am currently reading a book called "Finding your inner voice". This book raises an interesting concept. How connected are we with our bodies to know when it is asking us to stop, when it is asking us to pause, when it is warning us about an unhealthy situation?

All of us have this famous gut feeling or intuition. But really, how many of us actually act on it? Do we not end up rationalizing some of the physical reactions that we feel towards something or someone? This book points out that the physical reaction towards something or someone is our own body's way of alerting or warning us.

I have not yet finished this book. Once I do that, then I will write in greater detail about the next steps. Till then, listen to your body, mind and heart!

"Up" - NaBloPoMo #5

I have to hand it to PIXAR animation. They do a fantastic job every single time and not once have I been disappointed with the quality of movies that they produce. I watched the movie "UP" in sunny Tucson. This movie is a combination of gentle love, dedication, dog, bird, man and a child. Wait,this sounds awful lot like an Indian movie!! :D There was no sudden dances or fights. So no, this movie cannot qualify as an Indian movie.

Seriously, it is such a cute movie and I end up using the adjective only to PIXAR movies! Watch it, people!

Arabian Music - NaBloPoMo #4

People say that a picture speaks a thousand words. I ask, How about music?

Listen to this piece and I need say no more!

Trio Joubran Majaz

Snoring and Zzzzzz - NaBloPoMo #3

A funny thing happened today! I had got a facial done and half way through the process, I woke up with a jolt only to realize that I had been snoring through the facial. :) I don't snore ever and I was very surprised that I did. When I was done laughing about the whole thing, I was told that I must have been very relaxed in order to do something that I generally don't! Kudos to the beauty specialist. She did one heck of a job to make me feel so relaxed.

I was curious enough to look up the reasons for snoring, particularly for people who snore when they lie down on their backs. This is the synopsis of what I found:

Snoring is caused by a narrowing of your airway, either from poor sleep posture or abnormalities of the soft tissues in your throat. A narrow airway gets in the way of smooth breathing and creates the sound of snoring. Sleeping flat on your back allows the flesh of your throat to relax and block the airway. Consequently we start snoring! :D

There are other reasons why people snore. If you want to know more, click here!

1000 hand Guan Yin - NaBloPoMo #2

I received a URL from a colleague yesterday about a dance sequence. It was an enjoyable experience watching it. It also brought back memories from the past. I remember practicing very hard for a group dance. The coordination was abomination! Nothing about our dance sequence indicated that we were performing as a group! :) It is funny even now when I think about it. Of course, our team did not win any prizes for that effort but I do remember that we had a whole lot of fun.

This link that you are going to watch is exactly opposite of what we did. Check out this link: 1000 Hand Guan Yin

Ice Wine anybody? - NaBloPoMo Post #1

Yay, I am back in the game. National Blogger Posting Month has a unique concept where each registered blogger has to post a blog post, one every day for that month. The blog post may or may not be based on a theme! Being the non-conformist that I am, I chose to post independent of the theme! Here goes the first post for this month!

I recently returned back from a trip to Toronto, Canada and had the opportunity to check out ICE WINES! You know what the regular table wines are right? The Reds, the Whites and the Blush. Now, let me introduce you to ice wines. The regular wines are prepared from the grapes which are plucked from their vines during the harvesting season. Now ice wines are a whole different genre. The grapes are let to sit in the vines well past their harvesting season. The sugar within the grapes solidify. It is a veritable challenge to pluck these grapes from the vines in the biting cold winter, without damaging their skins and squeezing the darn out of these grapes to produce ICE WINE! Often an entire vine will yield only one bottle. Ergo, the expensive nature of ice wines!

I helped myself to smaller bottles of Red and White Ice Wines. And yes, I paid for them, as well. Attached are the pictures!