5 Learnings about Blogging

It's been about two months now since I started blogging.
I've learned quite a bit about the process (thanks to my husband and sister).

Below are the top 5:
5. It only takes about 10 minutes to write an entry, but it's uploading those picture and videos that take up so much time.
4. Having a blog makes you think about privacy and exposure so much more. Hence, I'm refraining from the social networking sites until absolutly necessary
3. When I have a hard time thinking of topics, it makes me realize just how boring my life is. Hmmm....then again, there's nothing wrong with boring.
2. People leaving comments is a great motivator to keep writing even when there are only two people who ever leave comments.
1. To keep those comments coming, it's probably a good to respond with another comment.

Knowing Known Books

I admit it. I'm a book hoarder.

Today I went to two used bookstores (Know Knew Books and Book Buyers ) and spent three hours browsing through their selection. As you can probably tell from their websites, BB seems to be much more organized and has a bigger selection. KKB is clearing out their entire inventory right now for 50% off all books to make way for 50,000 books they currently have in storage. I wouldn't be surprised if they are going to be renovating their space as well to compete with BB.

I was able to buy four books from KKB for a total of $18 - 'Tis by Frank McCourt, Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes, Waiting by Ha Jin, and The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan (hardback).

Not sure when I'll be able to start these books since I'm concurrently working on Wicked, Eats, Shoots and Leaves, Carly Fiorina's autobiography, Germs, Guns and Steel, The Bean Trees, The Rape of Nanking, Saving Fish from Drowning, and Heat. Not to mention Businessweek magazine, bible reading, blog readings.

Not sure what starting books and rarely finishing one before starting another says about me. But eventually, I do get around to the end.

Scary, my friend just told me about BestWebBuys which does comparison shopping on all online bookstores including used and new prices. This could be dangerous - my bookshelf doesn't have enough space.

Not Your Average Grocery Store

Besides the weather, there are many perks to living in California. My favorite by far though is the variety of grocery stores that are within a 20 mile radius of my house.

Not in any priority order:

1. Mitsuwa - Japanese Grocery Store. The reviews are pretty amusing.

2. Han Kook - Korean Grocery Store

3. Trader Joes - Cosmopolitan Grocery Store at affordable prices

4. Whole Foods - for the gourmet cook

5. Ranch 99 - Chinese Grocery store

These are the ones I frequent, but there are Indian, Mexican and yes even British grocery stores in the area.

My sense of food stuff has been heighted since I started working for a company that provides meals prepared by some of the most amazing chefs. They've introduced new produce into my own cooking including the broccolini. Over the years, I've also noticed that fruits and vegetables that were once seasonal are now available year round. Cherries in winter? No problem! Imported from Chile.

With this much variety, would it inspire you to try new dishes?

It's a Zoo Out There

The San Diego Zoo is one of the largest in the United States and few could barely cover a quarter of the grounds in four hours. The 100-acre (40-hectare) Zoo is home to over 4,000 rare and endangered animals representing more than 800 species and subspecies, and a prominent botanical collection with more than 700,000 exotic plants.

As we were observing the baby gorillas, one put his face up against the plexiglass to get closer to the little kids lining the bottom of the exhibit rails. The moma gorilla hurried over to grab him away by the arm - probably scolding him for getting too close to the human display.

Some people say that animals in captivity have an easy life with guaranteed meals and regular checkups. However, they aren't allowed to do what nature intended - to hunt, to leap from tree to tree, to have the excitment of new discoveries. Are Polar Bears really happy in the 90 degree San Diego heat?

If you were a wild animal, would you rather be in captivity or in the wild?

Feeding the Hype

Tomorrow is opening day for Transformers, the Movie. eBay was able to offer its employees a sneak preview last week. Ted said it played like a GM commercial with eBay and PayPal ad placements throughout the movie. Google also procured opening day tickets, but quickly ran out. Most of us in our thirties can still remember the theme song of the cartoon - "Transformers - more than meets the eye. Transformers - robots in disguise." Now they are making a come back and my nephew (4 years old) has graduated from Disney's Pixar Cars to these shape shifters.

Ted found his old Transformer toys from over 20 years ago and is now selling them on eBay. The first two listings sold with both buyers snapping them up with "Buy It Now". the next two are displayed in the column to the left. Tempting to keep them, but better that they are sold to fanatic collectors. We'll always have our Star Wars collection.