Tips and Techniques [1404.16]
I enjoyed watching Monday night's total lunar eclipse. For future
reference, I thought I should make a few notes on what to do when the
next one occurs.
First, go to the NASA eclipse site and look up details for the eclipse.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Mildly Interesting [1404.12]
I saw this fascinating stop action animation on imgur, and the more I looked
into it the more amazed I became.
It was made by the Japanese tissue paper company Nepia.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Culture and Travel [1404.09]
(this article first appeared in our 2013 holiday newsletter)
At the end of September, we saw a launch of the SpaceX
Falcon 9 rocket as it sent a weather satellite into polar orbit from
Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Culture and Travel [1404.08]
(this article first appeared in our 2013 holiday newsletter)
In March we spent a week touring Washington, D.C. I had never been, so we
tacked it on to a trip I was making to attend a kendo seminar in Annandale,
VA. As usual, we crammed everything possible into each day.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Culture and Travel [1404.07]
(this article first appeared in our 2013 holiday newsletter)
All year long we had planned to visit Death Valley in winter, to attempt to get
a good view of Comet ISON.
Unlike the comet, Death Valley did not disappoint!
Read full article at Seeking42...
Mildly Interesting [1404.04]
A few days ago, biologists from UC Davis published their research into the
question "why do zebras have stripes?" The answer: to ward off blood-sucking
flies.
Though more research is needed to explain exactly why
stripes attract fewer flies,
I can relate to the phenomenon.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Mildly Interesting [1403.30]
A total lunar eclipse will occur in a couple of weeks, on April 15th.
I was telling Dave about seeing my first lunar eclipse as a child, and he
suggested trying to figure out exactly when it occurred.
It took some detective work, but I think I have it.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Culture and Travel [1403.28]
(this article first appeared in our 2012 holiday newsletter)
In our 2004 newsletter, we wrote about seeing the transit of Venus from
Africa.
Venus crossed between the earth and the sun again on
June 5th, the last time it will do so until the year 2117.
This time we saw it from Maui.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Culture and Travel [1403.27]
(this article first appeared in our 2012 holiday newsletter)
Last year, we wrote about scoping out observing sites for this year’s May
20th annular eclipse. We decided then on the general region east of Reno,
Nevada, and on May 19th we spent many hours searching the area.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Culture and Travel [1403.26]
(this article first appeared in our 2012 holiday newsletter)
Prior to Abisko, we spent several full days exploring London and its
surroundings. Hotels were shockingly pricey in the city, so we stayed at a
hotel at Heathrow and used public transportation to get around.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Culture and Travel [1403.25]
(this article first appeared in our 2012 holiday newsletter)
We really had not planned to leave the country in 2012, but we didn’t want
to miss seeing what may be the best Northern Lights activity this decade.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Home and Gear [1403.23]
This is a simple dessert recipe with a shortbread crust and layers of
cream cheese, chocolate pudding, and whipped topping. I got the recipe
decades ago from one of Dave's relatives, but it turns out you can find it
many places online, though with very different names.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Culture and Travel [1403.22]
(this article first appeared in our 2011 holiday newsletter)
We have written in previous newsletters about the segway, a
two-wheeled self-balancing personal transporter. This year we had a
chance to take two more awesome tours, in Griffith Park and Atlanta.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Culture and Travel [1403.21]
(this article first appeared in our 2010 holiday newsletter)
TechShop is a membership workshop similar to a gym, but with shop tools
instead of fitness equipment. It really is heaven for anyone who loves to
make things.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Culture and Travel [1403.20]
(this article first appeared in our 2010 holiday newsletter)
After exotic travels in recent years,
we stayed totally within the United States in 2011.
A trip in October took us in a huge loop through much of California and a
bit of western Nevada.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Mildly Interesting [1403.17]
I just returned today from 5 nights in Las Vegas with Dave's mom, dad,
and sister Joyce. Dave and I are not big gamblers, and basically go
to have a good time catching up with the family. On this trip I was
a luckier than usual.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Home and Gear [1403.11]
I like cauliflower, but it's a bit monotonous to eat a whole head steamed.
I also wanted a way to use some of the 3 pounds of salmon you typically end
up with when you buy fresh salmon at Costco.
So
I came up with this recipe for salmon cauliflower chowder.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Culture and Travel [1403.07]
(this article first appeared in our 2010 holiday newsletter)
Prior to flying to Rapa Nui (Easter Island), we stopped over in
Santiago, Chile’s capital, as well as the port city of Valparaiso, about
an hour and a half northwest of Santiago.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Culture and Travel [1403.06]
(this article first appeared in our 2010 holiday newsletter)
Easter Island (Polynesian name Rapa Nui) is one of the world’s most remote
inhabited places, located about 2200 miles west of
Santiago, Chile. It is shaped like a right triangle
with an extinct volcano at each vertex.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Culture and Travel [1403.05]
(this article first appeared in our 2010 holiday newsletter)
In July we went to see a total eclipse of the sun. Yes, another one! But this
truly was one we could not miss, as it passed over Easter Island, home to the
mysterious moai (huge stone carvings of human heads).
Read full article at Seeking42...
Home and Gear [1402.26]
I saw a coworker using this contraption at work one day, and the
more I read about it, the more I wanted to get one.
The amazon product description section
includes a very detailed comparison of the AeroPress to other brewing methods.
Read full article at Seeking42.com...
Culture and Travel [1402.24]
(this article first appeared in our 2009 holiday newsletter)
In May we took a 300-mile trip to the White Mountains to
see bristlecone pines, the oldest living trees in the world, some almost
5000 years old.
Read full article at Seeking42.com...
Culture and Travel [1402.23]
(this article first appeared in our 2009 holiday newsletter)
Although we had already visited China several times, on this trip we were able
visit many new places, including Hangzhou, Chengdu, and Tibet, culminating in
a trip to Everest Base Camp.
Read full article at Seeking42.com...
Culture and Travel [1402.22]
(this article first appeared in our 2009 holiday newsletter)
We were seriously considering skipping this eclipse trip, but several
items pushed us into going. First, this eclipse, lasting about 5 minutes in
eastern China, would be the longest one of this century.
Read full article at Seeking42.com...
Mildly Interesting [1402.19]
I'm sure you have already seen the youtube video
"Chèvres en équilibre" (balancing goats), which went viral with
5 million views after just two days (as of this writing).
However, did you notice what happens at time 0:45?
Read full article at Seeking42.com...
Self Improvement [1402.17]
There has been some recent buzz about a book that will be published in
early
March: "Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving
Feedback Well" by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen. I'm interested to see
it when it comes out, though I'm a little apprehensive.
Read full article at Seeking42.com...
Culture and Travel [1402.15]
(this article first appeared in our 2008 holiday newsletter)
One of the great things about eclipse touring is having the opportunity to
visit places that are really "out there". For the Gobi trip
we visited Mongolia, after touring Korea and China.
Read full article at Seeking42.com...
Culture and Travel [1402.14]
(this article first appeared in our 2008 holiday newsletter)
Solar eclipses have a tendency to occur over water or some inaccessible place
on land.
This year we traveled to the southern part of the Gobi desert to see one.
Read full article at Seeking42.com...
Culture and Travel [1402.12]
(this article first appeared in our 2007 holiday newsletter)
Comet Holmes, a periodic comet currently visible in the constellation Perseus,
has been dubbed "the strangest comet to burst onto the celestial scene in our
lifetime."
Read full article at Seeking42.com...
Culture and Travel [1402.11]
(this article first appeared in our 2007 holiday newsletter)
Lunar eclipses occur when the earth comes between the sun and the moon. The
one that occurred at the end of August was especially
spectacular because the sun, earth, and moon were in almost perfect alignment.
Read full article at Seeking42.com...
Culture and Travel
[1402.10]
(this article first appeared in our 2007 holiday newsletter)
We ended 2006 and started 2007 in paradise, Maui to be exact.
Norwalk Kendo Dojo also made a whirlwind tour of Oahu and Maui in August.
Read full article at Seeking42.com...
Tips and Techniques
[1402.08]
I recently stumbled upon a TEDx talk on "How To Use One Paper Towel",
which demonstrates how to potentially save 570 million pounds of paper a year
by using only one paper towel to dry your hands.
My reaction was, "hey, that's my urawaza!"
Read full article at Seeking42.com...
Culture and Travel [1402.05]
(this article first appeared in our 2006 holiday newsletter)
We missed Disneyland’s 50th anniversary celebration last year, so when it
was continued through mid-2006 we decided to see both it and
the neighboring California Adventure theme park.
Read full article at Seeking42.com...
Mildly Interesting
[1402.04]
(this article first appeared in our 2006 holiday newsletter)
From 1996 through 2003 we leased several electric vehicles from General
Motors. We were devastated
when we had to give them up, and we weren’t alone.
Read full article at Seeking42.com...
Culture and Travel
[1402.03]
(this article first appeared in our 2006 holiday newsletter)
A total eclipse of the sun is one of nature’s greatest spectacles. On March
29, 2006, we joined thousands of people in Libya in the path of the moon’s
shadow.
Read full article at Seeking42.com...
Health and Fitness [1401.30]
You may be wondering, "what the heck is this kendo thing?"
The short answer: kendo is Japanese fencing.
The long answer: kendo is a Japanese martial art which trains the mind
and body and cultivates one's character through one-on-one combat using a
bamboo sword.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Self Improvement [1401.29]
David Seah is a blogger and visual designer whose
productivity tools and forms have interested me for a while (especially his
compact calendar).
But I only recently discovered
David has a different take on yearly goal setting.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Tips and Techniques [1401.27]
I have an old Foodsaver vacuum sealing system that I bought at least 10 years
ago.
It still works like a champ, but many times when I use it I don't follow the
manual (and normally I'm a stickler about following manuals).
Read full article at Seeking42...
Home and Gear [1401.25]
I got the idea for this recipe from kendo mom Janet's wonderful yum yum
cookies, made from white chocolate, crispy cereals, and peanuts.
Unfortunately, none of those ingredients is particularly good for a
LCHF diet.
Why not simply make dark chocolate clusters using tree nuts?
Read full article at Seeking42...
Culture and Travel [1401.23]
(this article first appeared in our 2005 holiday newsletter)
We visited an above average number of museums in 2005, including Body Worlds
at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, the Mustard
and Spam Museums in the midwest, and the Gigapixel Project in San Diego.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Culture and Travel [1401.22]
(this article first appeared in our 2005 holiday newsletter)
In July
we took a weeklong road trip through Wisconsin and environs.
We found a guidebook in the library called "Oddball Wisconsin, A Guide to
Some Really Strange Places."
Read full article at Seeking42...
Culture and Travel [1401.21]
(this article first appeared in our 2005 holiday newsletter)
2005 started off wet, ending up just short of 1884’s record 38.2 inches.
Newspaper articles, TV reports, and dozens of wildflower websites extolled
the magnificence of this year’s wildflower blooms.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Health and Fitness [1401.15]
After all my due diligence
(see parts 1 and 2 of the low carb diet series),
I was all set to go.
I scheduled the start time to coincide with some kendo down time.
I vowed to stick with it for at least 3 months,
no matter how much suffering and anguish I had to endure.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Home and Gear [1401.14]
Furikake chex mix is a Japanese-Hawaiian-style party mix.
It's sweet and buttery, a little savory, and really good.
Like any chex mix recipe, it's pretty much foolproof.
The key is to choose dry ingredients which taste good to you.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Mildly Interesting [1401.12]
I had always thought of praying mantises as exotic, almost mythical creatures,
and any in Southern California must surely be imported.
Imagine my suprise to see one in Cerritos sitting on our trash can
(photo taken 1310.07).
Read full article at Seeking42...
Culture and Travel [1401.10]
(this article first appeared in our 2004 holiday newsletter)
On June 8, 2004, a rare astronomical event occurred. The planet Venus
crossed the disk of the sun, a small dot barely visible to the naked
(solar-filter-protected) eye.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Health and Fitness [1401.08]
As I mentioned in part 1, Stephen Phinney and Jeff Volek's book
The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living
is what convinced me to give a LCHF diet a shot.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Self Improvement [1401.07]
Starting a personal blog has been on my "someday/maybe" list for years.
What was keeping me from actually accomplishing it now?
"Perfect is the enemy of good", as my husband Dave teased me the other day.
Read full article at Seeking42...
Mildly Interesting [1401.06]
I captured the odometer on our 2011 Nissan Leaf full electric vehicle
when it hit 31,415 miles, matching the numeric sequence for the first 5
digits of pi (photo taken 1306.28).
Read full article at Seeking42...
Tips and Techniques [1401.05]
Here is a method I use to keep track of how many eggs I have in the
refrigerator, using an egg carton that I've cut down to hold 4 eggs.
While some might call this a "life hack", I prefer the Japanese term
"urawaza".
Read full article at Seeking42...
