The ficus that decided to live.

The ficus that decided to live
Originally uploaded by Liz sorensen.

3 months after me dared to move the ficus tree, it decided it had the will to go on. I'm SO proud to have rescued the ficus from its own suicide (or herbicide-suiherbicide?)

Favorite Meal Of All Time

The most wonderful Christmas gift of all was, of course, the health and happiness of my family (and friends!!!). But these flautas came in a close second…

It was sad that my sisters and my brother did not come out to Christmas this year. It was strange to be the only one at home for the holiday. But this sadness and strangeness was tempered quite a bit because I did not have to fight with them over the flautas or the guacamole…

I declare this to be my favorite meal of all time.

Merry Christmas!!!!!!

To all!

White Christmas in Denver

Backyard @ Folks's house
Originally uploaded by Pablo Mercado.

I don't fly out till Saturday. Maybe conditions will have improved by then...

beta la fea

Google has finally pulled blogger.com out of beta. What does this mean for us? Nothing! But maybe we can switch? The new blogger does have sweet stuff like comment feeds (which we have due to my email hack, here), and other stuff…

Of course, I will have to upgrade Paper Lantern so that it can handle GData feeds…

update

300 trailer

Google Earth

Have ya'll cheched out this program.
It is a free download and it's super cool.
satellite imaging from all the way out in space right into your own backyard.
I recently used it to get the exact coordinated for the center of the field at the FCBarcelona stadium and then I built a collection around the pic and the info.

you can zoom all over the world and see all kinds of amazing detail.

Home and Work, Alexandria VA

Home and Work, Alexandria VA
Originally uploaded by Pablo Mercado.

The new Multiple Destination feature of Google Maps is sweet. I am glad that they finally added it!!

Granddaddy of Vertical Gardening

Check out this interview with the granddaddy of vertical gardening, Patrick Blanc. This man is so cool -- he's my muse! He's gone to rain forests to study how plants grow vertically in soilless conditions, and then created living walls for some impressive museums, hotels, and fashionistas in europe.

My living wall goes up in spring -- so exciting!! 40' tall by 16' wide -- I will send pics when it goes up. Here are links to Patrick, so you can start to get an idea of what vertical gardens are all about:

Check out these gorgeous photos!! Incredible!!

http://www.pingmag.jp/2006/12/08/vertical-garden-the-art-of-organic-architecture/

http://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com/

Fun.

Despite my fatigue I had a very nice time at the Chavez' last night.

Merry Xmas Everyone

Massive Upload
Originally uploaded by killy.

Massive Flickr upload. Massive. 61 photos.

winebabie

winebabie
Originally uploaded by TaggartCojanSorensen.

I remember when Adolph first pointed me in the direction of these things and I was very intrigued. After watching others use them I decided they were not for me. Admittedly I am not a spontaneous person. I watch. Watch some more. Then if I have not fallen asleep I do something. The third revision of this product is geared towards my approach. On a tripod. (Really I consider this the third revision because the Second was just a doube ontondra 2 time 2.0 aperature and little else. The Third is a different animal. I wouldnt call it german engineered but I will say there is a bit more design involved. This is my first photo with it.

Mis Hermanos

DSCN2206, Originally uploaded by KunzKlan.

Jarret (left) and Richard have gone to the birds! This photo was taken by my sister during a recent outing to the zoo with Kaenen, The World's Cutest Nephew!. Richard, having dressed appropriately, has obviously done this before.

Computer History Museum

So I have spend the last couple of days attending the Internet Identity Workshop out in California. I won’t bore y’all with any of the details, but I will say that the conference was amazing…

Anyhow, the conference was held in the Computer History Museum. At the end of the conference (today) we got to take a guided tour…

The tour was incredible. The museum has a fantastic collection of computers, from the venerable PDP-1 to amazing and beautiful Cray-1. Of course, they also have a great collection of micro-computers and personal computers, including one my first boxes, the Atari 800...

It was just so cool to see the the computing machines, from the abacus, to the slide-rule, to the gargantuan vacumn tube machines, to the big ass Cray super-computers…

Also, it is amazing to think that my Dad’s first job title was “computer”. He literally “computed” all day long with a slide-rule!

Anyhow, the Computer History Museum is definitely worth a visit if you are ever in the Bay Area.

My sister Sara is expecting...

Twins!

Hooray!!!! So, they do not know the gender or genders. But they do know that the twins are fraternal, not identical….

Simple Pleasures

I wrote this in February of this year, and I just rediscovered it in my notebook this morning:

Oh, Antonio of round and ruddy cheek,
How could I have guessed before you came
That there would be such simple pleasure
In being your one and only "Mama,"
A word you say from deep within your chest
So that it sounds like a sacred Buddhist chant:
"Mohhh-maaaaaahhhhhhh!"

I treasure the sound of your voice
Filled with irrespressible jubiliance
Over things I forgot to notice long ago.

"Ball!" you exclaim, never tiring of its
Infinite roundness and unfailing bounce
Against the world's hard surfaces,
Although you have not yet come to
Understand its lesson of resilience
In the face of your own tumbles.

But my favorite times are when we
Laugh together over some silly sound
Or a face I make to get a smile.
Once we start to laugh, it's hard to stop.
It's a contagious itch, and I love
To hear the sound of your laughter
Coming from deep within your belly:
The sincerest utterance of joy I have
Ever heard.

Oh, Antonio, of fine and flaxen hair.
I press my nose against your sweet
Toussled head and am filled with an
Aroma as full of new promise as a
Spring morning, and I close my eyes
To think again of your laugh - a
Raucous, robust sound that bursts,
Unrestrained from deep within you.

I live for that laugh. I dance to its
Cadence and timbre in my ear; and
When you throw your arms around
My neck and kiss my cheek, I know
How very lucky I am.

I love your wildness. You are the
Spark that rekindles my interest in
The world anew each day. It simply
Isn't true that we humans are better
Off the more we know. You are the
Proof that the greatest joys of life
Lie in the simplest of pleasures,
Those things that have been here
All along right under our noses:
Ball, mama, cookie, tree, car, daddy,
What more does anyone need, really?