2 Week Results

It's been about 2 weeks since I began making green smoothies and have noticed some changes.

First of all, I have more energy. Before I would be very sleepy by mid afternoon and need a small nap or at least a rest for a half hour to recharge my batteries. Now I can go all day long feeling alert with no feelings of sluggishness.

Next my skin has cleared up! Not completely, but at least far better than it was. That's always a plus for us ladies.

Unfortunately, husband and child aren't into the smoothies. I've even tried blending them with more fruit, but Aidan just doesn't care for it. Golf is so-so with them.

So far I've used spinach, kale, collard greens, mint, green chard and red chard. I mix them up a bit, but I find that the tougher leafed greens like the collards and kale are very "chewy" in the smoothie and I find that I have to choke it down. The softer leafed greens like spinach and chard blend more smoothly and are very easy to drink.

I like to mix these greens with fruit, usually apple and pear, and I put in a little bit of steevia in to sweeten it a bit and make it more palatable. Once melon comes into season, I'll blend in honeydew and cantaloupe.

Cucumbers and celery stalks have been added now and then to add freshness.

Within the next month or so I would like to get this book called Green Smoothie Revolution, by Victoria Boutenko.



Not only does this book go over the benefits of consuming raw greens, but it has lots of recipes for varying your smoothie recipes to give you a wide variety of different greens.

More updates coming soon!

Health and why 2011=Green Smoothies

I think I've always been rather proactive with my health: I've exercised regularly for over half my life and I eat a balanced diet.

Now that I'm entering the middle years of my life, I'm discovering that I have to take an even more proactive part of my health because it's beginning to take more effort to maintain the state of normalcy. In other words, being healthy and energetic has been my default mode. Now that I'm getting a little older, it takes a bit more work to maintain my default mode.

About a year and a half ago I began taking probiotic supplements. It made me feel good, and at the same time I eliminated sugar and wheat from my diet. I quickly lost about 7 pounds, but I have gone back to my old diet, which is largely rice based, thanks to my Thai husband and his wonderful food.

During a period of a few months earlier this year, I stopped my probiotics as well. I had simply run out of my supply and did not buy more, but was planning to. Then my body went crazy with candida yeast and I immediately went back on my probiotics and this month, the first month in five, I am back to normal.

The day before yesterday my dear friend Caroline gave me a magazine with an article on green smoothies and how the leafy greens take out excess candida in the body. Music to my ears! So I went out and bought all the ingredients for a green smoothie, PLUS a blender since my food processor isn't going to cut it this time. The blender recommended by smoothie connoisseurs costs over $300, but that's not in my budget at the moment.

During my green smoothie research, I came across Green Smoothie Girl as well as Green Smoothies Blog, both of which offer really good information on these healthful drinks.

So this is my new year's resolution: 2011 is going to be all about the green smoothie. I'll be making variations of it with more fruit to give to Aidan and Golf is going to get some, too, whether he likes it or not.

The recipe I made yesterday from the magazine has 2 cupfuls of spinach (handful), 2 cupfuls of cucumbers, ginger root, lemon and lime juices, 2 apples and 1 bunch of parsley. It was OK. I don't have to hold my nose or anything, but I am looking forward to trying different recipes. My cheapie blender does pretty good, but doesn't blend it quite as smooth as I like. But it will do until I can justify $300 for a good one!

Christmas 2010

The Praphantanathorn family left for my parents' house in Oroville on the 22nd and we stayed through til Monday the 27th. We knew lots of people would be on the road on Sunday the 26th, so we hunkered down one more day.

Festivities this year were lots of fun. Aidan got to make gingerbread cookies and sugar cookies, which we decorated afterward.

My sister, Anna, his aunt, came on Christmas Eve and she brought her dog Jasper. He's such a fun dog and Aidan loved him. We all got to play with Jasper and since we can't have pets where we live, it was really nice to get a good dose of dog while we were out there in the country.

Once my sister arrived, though, I fell ill. I was so out of it, I kept on calling Anna my middle sister's name, Alise. It was maddening and I think Anna was getting a bit miffed. I don't blame her, and fortunately, the next day I was starting to feel better and my mistakes vanished.

Then Golf got my sickness. He was a day behind me! That night Aidan had a minor fever too, so we all got to be sickos.

All of us just relaxed and watched a lot of television, which I never do here. Honestly. I never watch TV! I never even opened my laptop when I was there. I checked email and some of my affiliate and advertising earnings, but that was it. I was in full recuperation mode and now that I'm back I feel so refreshed.

Aidan made out with loads of gifts this year. For Christmas 2010 Aidan got:

1. Iron Man mask - the fancy kind that opens from the front and has lights in the eyes and sounds from the movie from Golf and me
2. Iron Man action figure in a car from his friend Joshua
3. Toy Story glow board drawing toy from his Aunt Anna
4. Blast Off Buzz Lightyear action figure from his Aunt Anna (must do a review on this one!)
5. Green recorder from his Grandmother
6. Spider rain boots from his Grandmother
7. 3 new pairs of pants, one shirt and one pair of shoes from both Grandparents
8. Construction LEGO vehicles from some very kind neighbors Rosanna and Laura

This boy did very well and so a big Thank You to friends and family!

Now we shall see if Aidan can stay up til midnight this Friday for New Year's Eve. Ha! :)

Duran Duran New Single

I just about worshipped these guys when I was in junior high and high school. Ever since Duran Duran broke up after 7 and the Ragged Tiger, they have, of course, never been the same.

As the years passed, Duran Duran got back together - 3 of them anyway - and they'd come out with a chart topper, and it was a catchy tune, but the entire album was a bit weak. I'd always end up disappointed overall.

A few years ago, all five members got back together, but Andy, the guitarist, didn't stick around, but Roger is back with Simon, Nick and John and four is always better than three.

Recently, Duran Duran have put out a new single called "All You Need is Now" and I really like it! Aside from the rather annoying sounding beginning, it has a wonderful sound and the chorous is very enjoyable. Since Duran Duran and their original fans (like me) from the 1980s are now into middle age, we reminisce about our youth, and that's what this song is about and it's relatable.

The guys, of course, are still rockin' their good looks. Simon's beard actually is nice. Would have been TOTALLY icky in his young, new romantic years. Here's their new video, All You Need is Now...

Lightning McQueen Bike Review

My son had been bugging me to get him a Lightning McQueen bike for his birthday last May and so his grandparents bought it for him. This bike wasn't used excessively, maybe - MAYBE once a week. He sometimes threw it to the ground, as children become focused on something else they literally drop what they're doing to go look.

So if you're considering getting a Lightning McQueen bike for your child, please see my complete Lightning McQueen Bike review and if you change your mind about the bike, there are lots of Disney Cars movie toys to get as gifts instead.

Drivers Turning Right Don't Look Right

This has been on my mind for a long time now and I finally want to write about it. When I'm a pedestrian walking on a sidewalk opposite of oncoming traffic, the drivers who pull out from a side street looking to turn right almost NEVER look to their right to see me coming! They slow down and only look left then pull right on out!

When I would have Aidan in the stroller with me, I'd just stop and wait for the morons to pass, or if they were coming down the street as I'd cross, I'd slow way down and make eye contact before proceeding.

There was one time that both my husband and my child were with me and we were just about to step from a curb when an idiot barreled through without looking even once!

I'm signed up for Google news alerts for a certain keyword I'm interested in reading more about and every day there is news from all over the country about mothers and their children getting hit by these drivers and I bet you that most of these accidents are from pedestrians walking against traffic on the sidewalk with stupid drivers who don't look right before turning right.

Please don't be a stupid driver: LOOK RIGHT before turning right.

Have you been mowed down (or almost) as a pedestrian?

Highly Intellingent Talks

I found some excellent speeches on iTunes that I've downloaded onto my iPod, simply captivated and actually LEARNING something as I prepare dinner every night.

They're talks given by The Cato Institute. The Cato Institute is a public policy research organization — a think tank — dedicated to the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets and peace. Its scholars and analysts conduct independent, nonpartisan research on a wide range of policy issues.

The first talk I found was by a lawyer from the Pacific Legal Foundation named Timothy Sandefur who wrote a book called The Right to Earn A Living: Economic Freedom And The Law. This book is about all the licensing and fees that the government imposes on business owners and entrepreneurs who simply want to earn an honest living. He discusses laws that are passed that makes a new moving company, for example, seek permission from its competitors before being allowed to operate. Taxi cab regulations are also heavily regulated. You have to have a license to be a FLORIST for crying out loud. Anyway, the talk was VERY good, and I'd like to get his book at some point.

I also listened to this speech on Cato on how public employee unions are going to sink this ship that is our country:

Although private sector unions have been in decline for decades, public sector unions have been on the rise. Both private and public unions have undue political influence and use that power to seek privileges at the expense of consumers and taxpayers. Are unions good for America?

You can find this speech here and download the audio. The first and third speakers are fascinating and frightening all at once.

Here is the list of all of Cato's podcasts. They have speakers from all over the world talking on a huge variety of topics. I feel smarter everyday that I listen! :)

My Experience at the Pixar Exhibition

Ever since the Oakland Museum announced that it was hosting an exhibition of Pixar's 25 Years of Animation, I knew I had to go. I mean I have a Pixar movies site, for goodness sake, I must!

I'm not a person who feels I have to be first at everything, so this exhibition has been going on for three months already and in addition, the first Sunday of every month provides free admission. Last month I couldn't go, so this month I decided I must go and my friend Caroline joined me!

However, come Sunday morning, it was heavily pouring rain outside and I thought - well, there probably won't be that many people waiting in line today since it's raining so hard.

We got into Oakland at 10:15 and the museum didn't open til 11 and there were already quite a crowd lined up, huddled under their umbrellas 45 minutes early. So I hopped out of the car to wait in line while Caroline parked her car.

Ugh, it was so wet n cold waiting all that time and the folks ahead of us were a group a three with one tiny umbrella to share. Needless to say they were drenched by the time the gate opened. I was impressed at the loyalty of all these people to come see the exhibition. I would guesstimate that close to 1,000 people showed up!

Anyway, on to the awesome Pixar exhibition. It was so cool to see the storyboards and conceptual drawings. I found some of the collage pieces for The Incredibles to be really well done. Many of the acrylic and pastel paintings are beautiful pieces on their own and would look stunning on the wall as a unique piece of art.

There were 3-D models of all the characters from each Pixar film showcased in the middle of each room and in one room, there were a half dozen glass and wire sculptures of the different plants on the tepui plateaus of South America that were studies for Up. Absolutely GORGEOUS.

One of the highlights was something called a Zoetrope. It's like a small merry-go-round where different Toy Story characters are in various animated poses. The Zoetrope spins around faster and faster, the lights go dark in the room, then strobe lights flicker on the spinning Zoetrope and the figures come to life. There are sound effects to it, making it all the more real. It was VERY cool!

Another part of the exhibit I really enjoyed was seeing color studies for the scope of the film. I saw several - Up and WALL-E. The entire movie is made up in a series of panels that convey the mood of the film through the color schemes. They were simple pictures, but put all together it had lots of impact and you could see the whole film on one section of wall.

And of course, the conceptual art was wonderful. Many pieces were digitally created and they look just like colored pencil or conte crayon. Other pieces had the precise lines of an architect. The talent of the artists at Pixar are extraordinary!

So that was my experience of the Pixar exhibit at the Oakland Museum. I encourage you to go too, especially if you live in the Bay Area - Pixar is your neighbor and probably the premiere animation studio in the world.

Special Day Today

Yeah yeah, it's election day and that's what everyone on the news stations will be talking about all day long.

But I'm excited about the DVD/BluRay release of Toy Story 3! I should be getting my copy in the mail either today or tomorrow. Unfortunately, we don't yet have a BluRay player, so we only got the DVD copy, which is got lots of exciting special features anyway.

I also want to remind everyone that my contest to win your own copy of the Toy Story 3 BluRay/DVD combo pack ends today! It's been a week of fun with lots of good quality entries, and I'll be sending off the top 5 entries over to my guest judge over at PixarTalk to make the final decision. This announcement will be made on November 5th.

You, my friends, have until 9:00 PM PST tonight enter your movie review for your chance to win.

Trick or Treat

Tonight was the first time we took Aidan out for trick-or-treating. It was about 7:15 when I saw and heard lots of commotion going on outside and remembered that kids were going door to door at about this time. So I pulled Golf aside and asked what he thought about taking Aidan out for the first time in his life. He agreed with me, so off we went.

This was Golf's first time out with trick-or-treaters, too. Being from Thailand and coming to America as an adult, he never got this experience as a kid, and so of course, he wouldn't know that we should take Aidan out without my prompting him to. So it was a fun night for both guys.

Aidan's five now, and yes he could have gone in earlier years, but I simply didn't want him having access to so much candy! I thought this year is a good year to start and the neighborhood we live in is safe. In just a few blocks he got lots of candy - enough to last him for months with the way Mama is going to regulate his treat intake. LOL!

He wore his Ultraman costume that Golf bought him in Thailand two years ago. It's getting way too small for him, but Aidan just doesn't want to give it up yet, he loves it so much.

CONTEST - Win the Toy Story 3 BluRay/DVD Combo

I'm sure I'm like all of you and am really excited about the release of Toy Story 3 out on Blu-Ray and DVD on November 2nd.

Well, you have an opportunity to win a copy!

From now until November 2, come to The Leaping Lamp and write your own favorite Pixar movie review for a chance to win.

Write a review for one movie or write a review for each Pixar film to increase your odds of winning.

Details and entry form at The Leaping Lamp Contest Page.

Finally Fall

Here in the Bay Area we get Indian Summers, which means the warm weather extends late into the year. On the other hand, in June we're downright cold and this year was cold all through September. Just when I thought we weren't going to get a summer, we got a last of the year heatwave.

Now it's mid October and we've got our first rainy day. I finished my power walk just in time! To balance out my exercise, I baked some Trader Joe's Guilt-Free brownies! LOL! Still lots of calories, but it uses yogurt instead of butter. The apartment smells wonderful.

Golf is a dear and takes Aidan to his Thai school every Sunday so I will have time to be at home and get some work done. Today I'm working on creating a Google search box for my Stroller Envy site.

Late last month I created another Squidoo Lens for people who are searching for the best Toy Story 3 Toys for Christmas this year. You don't want to end up buying a piece of junk that falls apart or breaks within a few days or hours of playtime. This list is for toys that have high user ratings. While some selections are not cheap there is a range of prices for those on a budget too. So go and check it out!

I'm getting excited that November 2 is coming soon. That's when we get our Toy Story 3 DVD! You can pre-order yours now and get it on November 2 also. I'll be able to finish my Toy Story 3 pages on The Leaping Lamp, which we're all anxiously awaiting, not to mention the fabulous included short film, Day & Night.

Been busy at working outside the home too, helping with the annual California English Language Development Test (CELDT) going from school to school. We're on our last school and should be done by the end of October. Then I'll be able to put my full force back into Stroller Envy.

Lately I've really been getting into Dave Ramsey. Mom and Dad taught me not to ever charge more on my credit card that I could pay off at the end of the month. Somehow that always stuck in my head and I never got way into debt. The worst we ever got was a few thousand dollars, which is nothing compared to the tens of thousands of dollars in debt many people dig themselves into. Not to mention the student loans! Holy mackerel - some get right up there in the $100k range!

So I heard Dave Ramsey on a local radio station and was hooked. He's preaching to the choir in the case of this family! We just need to create more income. We have hardly any debt and no car payments. I'm working my tail off to get our income up and be my own boss at the same time. The only thing that's off-putting is the Christian slant. But on the other hand, it's not pushed and any scripture he quotes can be applied to any spiritual tradition. I make it a point to stay focused on the forest not the tree. (Does that make sense?)

Til next time - hopefully soon!

Amazon or eBay?

A few years ago Golf had used eBay a lot to bring in extra family income. He even became a power seller! EBay has radically changed in the three years since we've been sellers and many sellers have left and other online auction houses have started, taking on the monolith.

Then the other day a friend of mine was saying how her husband had sold a couple of extra new and valuable kitchen items he had but didn't need. I think they were like hood filters or something.

She went on to tell me that he sold them right away on Amazon! What struck me was that eBay is no longer the default choice for people looking to sell their stuff here and there. Apparently Amazon is now!

Amazon is more seller friendly, it seems. For my Pixar site, The Leaping Lamp, I had applied for the eBay affiliate program and was rejected. Twice! Look at my site, what is there about it that is inappropriate to sell eBay products? Amazon took me on right away and in less than a month, I've referred nearly $300 in business to them.

There's an interesting battle brewing between these two companies... who's going to dominate in the coming years? Which company will people think of using first? Probably a third party out of left field, totally unexpected. Another Google - that's what I think.

Happy Anniversary Leaping Lamp!

Peek Inside is all quiet, but I am a flurry of activity online with my Leaping Lamp website. My one year anniversary with my site was on June 5th and wow, has my site grown into something really wonderful. I'm very happy with the results and now I must gear up for Toy Story 3 in a week.

Next on my agenda is creating my next website which will be about.... well, I shall just have to announce it here on my personal blog!

I'm also on FaceBook more often than here on my blog, so please see my profile if you want to know what's going on in the P. family.

My New Toy

Finally Finally FINALLY our family's starting to get out of this debilitating recession and I can only hope and wish that this upward mobility continues. In that line of thought, I've been wanting a new iPod for about half a year now. I still slog around a CD player now and then and I miss out on interesting podcasts and I know I don't listen to music as often since it's not as convenient.

Well, I was looking online at the prices for used iPods, but Golf told me that for my belated birthday present (December) I could get a brand new one, latest generation. Woo hoo! Wow!

So I've been having fun exploring new music and downloading my favorite CDs.


On a side note, when Benjawan came over the other day to pick up the manuscript I was editing for the latest Speak Like a Thai series and she was showing me on her iPhone that she has all the Speak Like a Thai volumes downloaded. She's also perfecting her Spanish and wishes to learn Chinese and Russian. Benjawan is a real linguaphile!

She's a busy woman and I had asked her how she manages to find time to learn languages and she says that with all these language learning programs downloaded, she listens in her car and learns in any spare time she has.

Well, I'm quite addicted to my tiny portable radio and I listen when I wash dishes or take Aidan out for a walk. But now that I have this iPod with Thai language learning downloaded, I can practice and learn Thai instead! I need to become more fluent and this is the perfect way to do so.

Anway, thank you Golf for my new toy - I'll be getting a lot of use out of it!

A Day Fit for a Queen

I turned 40 last Saturday. To many it is just another number, but I always contemplate the previous decade of my life as I enter a new one.

My two best girlfriends, Melanie and Caroline, took me to the Claremont Resort & Spa in Berkeley, which was a HUGE surprise in itself. This place is extremely luxurious and gorgeous. It was a rainy, dreary day, so being indoors and cozy was perfect for such a stormy winter day. (Photo is from the website linked above)

I got to indulge in two treatments. All three of us had our first appointment at 10 AM so we arrived at about 9. You get to go into the jacuzzi beforehand or sit in a steam bath scented with eucalyptus. The spa also has something called a deluge shower. You step into this shower stall and sit on a small bench, leaning forward. There's a pipe sticking out of the ceiling and it pours a ton of warm water onto your back and neck, massaging you like you're sitting under a waterfall. It was great!

The first treatment I received was a rosemary body scrub. I wanted softer skin and in addition to getting a great rubdown, the masseuse also gave me a wonderful head and scalp massage. This was while I was stewing in some warm lavender oil with hot, heavy towels draped over me. Oh, it felt divine!

I had enough time to sit in the steam bath for five minutes after this treatment was finished and let the oils soak in nicely. Then it was time for my facial.

I haven't had a facial in this country before. In Thailand, I'd get one once a month or so - I was incredibly spoiled living there. This facial was the same basic style as what I'd get in Thailand, but this one included a pumpkin spice enzyme that smelled just like pumpkin pie. It tingled nicely, and subsided a bit when the steam started.

The technician then picked thoroughly and got all that crapola out of my face and then various creams and tonics were massaged in. The facial included a shoulder and arm massage with hot lavender oil. She put my hands in plastic bags and then put inside hot oven mitts. (that's what they looked like, anyway.) The whole thing was WOONDDEERRFULLLL!!

I took a shower when my facial was done. All the shower stalls have wall jets plus the giant pie-plate shower head that dumps water down like a tropical shower. I felt guilty using all that water, but my shower wasn't long and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Afterward, Melanie and Caroline and I all had lunch together. I had this creole spiced chicken sandwich with roasted pepper on ciabatta bread with a side of bacony potato salad. YUMMY!
Caroline had the burger with the same side salad and Melanie had the blackened catfish sandwich with southern style cole slaw.

What a wonderful, wonderful spa day!!!! Thank you again Melanie and Caroline!

Has it really been three months?!?!

Well, as I had forewarned in a previous post, I'm up to my eyeballs with my online business. I've been writing all about Pixar movies on The Leaping Lamp and it's been keeping me very, very busy. Not only creating new content, but with promoting it on Facebook and on Twitter. I have SO many plans in the works for my site and so please subscribe to the RSS feed for the latest updates.

So if there's anybody out there still reading this, thank you, I appreciate it. Now you know where I've been hiding and what I've been doing.

Working Again and Following a New Diet

Today I started work again. School districts have a state mandated English test for kids who speak a language other than English at home. Kids are tested in Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking. They take this test yearly until they pass it and can be in a "regular" class instead of an ESL class.

So today was my first day of testing these kids. The paperwork involved is enormous and the length of the test for little kids entering kindergarten is far too much. I had to stretch and jump around a couple of times with the little girl I was testing because her attention kept wandering and she was BORED!

Don't tell anybody, but even though Aidan speaks Thai with Golf at home, we are NOT going to let the school know that. Because that means he'll have to take this test every year. Bleh, no thank you.


Other news... I'm trying out this diet: Dr. Grott's No Flour, No Sugar Diet.

So far it's working quite well; I've lost two pounds in three days. Well, today's day #3, and I didn't weigh myself this morning.

My hairstylist told me about this. She had great success with it, because she also cut out dairy products. I don't think I could take out ALL that food, but sugar and flour, yes.

AND I had heard from several people who had had success with simply avoiding sugar!

I eat well by cooking at home with minimally processed foods and have reasonable portions. But I weigh too much and need to take off 17-20 pounds. Then I'll be at the weight I was when I was living in Thailand PRE marriage!

I'll keep you all posted on my progress.

Monthly Updates + Facebook

I've been up to my eyeballs starting a new online business. My painting has even been put on hold for now and I miss it. But I need to earn money, and I enjoy creating on the Internet, so once a stream of income begins, then I can get back to painting more regularly.

I still volunteer at the Frank Bette Center for the Arts once a week and today I'm going to my favorite Artist's house an hour's drive away to see her for Open Studios. Open Studios, for those who don't know, is a yearly event that spans two weekends where participating artists open their homes, workspaces and studios to the public. The artist has his or her profile entered into a directory and a place on an area map so people can find them. They set up their space like a gallery to sell their work. It's a way for some artists, who have never had the opportunity to show in a gallery, to become discovered and/or make some sales.

Nowadays, I'm on Facebook a lot more often and I find that making brief comments and updates is far easier than updating my blog. That's why PeekInside has fallen so far behind! I don't plan to give up this blog, since it's been around since my days in Bangkok and is like my living diary. So I'll likely update it monthly or even every couple of months or so. I'm just so busy with other projects that it's not my priority any longer. So look for my profile on Facebook, it's at http://www.facebook.com/amy.rainier And if you haven't already, add me as your friend and I shall do the same. :)

I'll sign off for now with a picture of Aidan. Lately he's been into drawing and writing. He went from scribbles to actual pictures in a matter of days, it's amazing. In this photo, his daddy showed him how to draw and color the Thai flag.

GOALS

I've been reading, reading and absorbing, absorbing strategies, ideas and stories about micro-businesses, online businesses, independent location businesses and art businesses. I want that so badly! I need to find my niche.

You know what I would LOVE to do? Go back to Thailand for a few more years. Let Aidan experience his Thai culture more fully.

And I would work on my own terms. MAYBE teaching art workshops and classes if needed. Otherwise fully promoting my Expat woman's guide and website by traveling around the country and in Bangkok reviewing services and such (I have another idea about that, too), making my art, and showing it in local galleries. That's my dream and fully doable within the next couple of years.

All this would depend on Golf's business, too. His work is more prominent in the United States and I feel my work would be more prominent in Thailand. Funny how that works out!

So in the meantime, I'm painting and building up a body of work as well as trying to get the whole business end of things figured out.

Confirming my suspicions

My suspicions have been that I've always been an on the fence non-conformist. And it's easy to be seduced into the status-quo, but if I picture myself making all the safe decisions, I also know I would be drowning slowly in misery and utter boredom. At least I know myself and I apologize if this sounds too cryptic to make much sense.

The purpose of this post is to spread the word about a couple of writings from a blogger and traveler named Chris Guillebeau who has a site called The Art of Nonconformity. I'd never heard of him until I got a blog post in my reader from marketing sensation Seth Godin's site where he mentioned Guillebeau's new manifesto called 279 Days to Overnight Success. The title intrigued me, so I downloaded it.

It offers 11,000 words of free advice on how to create your own success with your own project.

Who It’s For:

Bloggers, writers, online artists, and anyone otherwise interested in creating a new career or expanding their influence using social media. If you want your online presence to grow far beyond what it is now, read and apply.

That's all I needed to read to know that I should download this manifesto and give it a gander. It was teriffic. It gave me some more ideas about my Expat website, and I'm kicking around some ideas for creating another project, both of which I hope to subsidize my art career.

The other manifesto Chris Guillebeau wrote is called A Brief Guide to World Domination.
It's a more generalized piece of writing about how to live a fulfilling life by living and working in service to others. He notes that all the mega-rich give out lots of money to help others, otherwise despite their wealth, their life feels hollow.

A Few Things You’ll Learn in the Report

• The Two Most Important Questions in the Universe
• Why Ruling and Changing the World are Interrelated
• The Clear Alternative to Being Unremarkably Average
• True Stories from Zen Habits, Kiva, Randy Pausch, and more
• The Most Important Work We Can Do
• Life Lessons from My Singapore Airlines flight to Tokyo

What does he mean by ruling and changing the world? Well he doesn't mean it in the traditional sense of the phrase. Download the PDF file and see for yourself.

Chris Guillebeau's writings got me thinking lately, so I wanted to pass on this information to anyone else who might want some inspiration. :)

Art Blog Updated

Just wanted to let you know that I have updated my Art Blog with my new painting

Worth Savoring Slowly

Enjoy!

Subbing, Painting, Squidooing, Volunteering

Gosh, I've really neglected this blog a lot, and I'm sorry for anybody who still follows me on it. I've been quite active on the internet, though.

Like the rest of the world, it seems, I joined up on Facebook a few months ago and then a few days ago I finally joined Twitter, although I don't have much to do on that site, YET. I hope to use it to promote my art down the road later.

In the meantime I've been substitute teaching a lot, bringing in some extra income since Golf's translation jobs have been slow lately. That takes up most my day every day.

Then I've been painting like crazy, I just finished Melanie's birthday painting and I gave it to her yesterday. I will update my art blog about it as soon as I have the photos ready to upload.

Squidoo I've been working tirelessly on. I've got some new lenses up. If any of you reading this wouldn't mind, sign up for Squidoo and then go to my lensmaster page. Scroll down a bit and you will see all the articles I've written and then rate my articles! The higher the ratings, the better page rank I get and the more pageviews I get. It's a stay at home income revenue I've been working on.

I've listed some of the ones I've done already, but the rest I've finished lately are:
Bangkok by Boat
Short Stay in Bangkok?

Right now I'm working on a lens promoting Golf's online shop called Discovery Day Studio, where he sells PDF service manuals for various electronics.

Lastly, I've been volunteering a few hours a week at the Frank Bette Center for the Arts, and today's my day to go in. It's a chance to get my foot in the door and get to know other artists and those in the art business. I will eventually (hopefully) get to exhibit there too!

Reinforcing what I want with Aidan

Ever since reading The Secret a couple years ago, I've made it a habit of always thinking about what I want instead of what I don't want, or turning a negative statement into a positive statement.

This has filtered down into my parenting technique as well. I'd read somewhere that if you tell a child, for example, "Please don't climb on the bookshelf." The only thing the child hears is "Climb on the bookshelf." and that's one of the primary reasons kids misbehave. They need to be told what to do, as opposed to what not to do.

So I've been practicing and catching myself when I tell Aidan not to do something. I turn it around right away and tell him what I want him to do and sometimes I have to stop and think about it. I've been so accustomed to expressing what I don't want that it can be difficult sometimes to think about what I want instead. If I don't want my child to stomp around on the floor (we have neighbors one floor below us) then what do I tell him I do want? To walk softly please. If I don't want Aidan to put the holly berry he picked in his mouth, what do I tell him? "Don't put that in your mouth?" I used to say that. I now say, "Keep the berry in your fingers." or "Hold on to it."

Having a child to practice positive statements on is great. You have to really stop and think sometimes about what it is you want when it's so easy to think about what you don't want. I'm sure that at some point it will be as easy to express my wants as it is my don't wants. :)

Busy!

I had to substitute teach everyday except Wednesday this week. Wednesday was supposed to be the day I enrolled Aidan in preschool but the program had only three slots available! Needless to say, I was unable, so I was moody all day. I had told Aidan how he was going to get to go to preschool - he's been telling me how much he wants to go. What a letdown. Next time I won't tell him until he's actually enrolled.

So besides working I've been still learning Squidoo stuff and I created a couple more lenses:
Tips for Thailand Expats
Medical Tourism in Thailand
Resources for Learning Thai

I now would like to expand and cast a wider net. I've got some more ideas. Eventually I'd like to create quite a few more and make some money. So far I've made 11 cents! Woo hoo!

Meeting someone special and Squidoo

I've been laying low on Peek Inside for a little bit now, just haven't had time to catch up. I've been spending too much time on Facebook and working on my Expat Woman's Guide to Living in Thailand website during my free time during the day - which is very little. Next week, I'm making myself available to substitute teach again because the economy is making business slow, just like everywhere else.

I'm meeting someone special next weekend, March 1st. She is an artist I admire greatly and I found out about her through a book I read last year called The Wishing Year, by Noelle Oxenhandler. After reading her book, I visited her website, where I found out about the artist, Carole Watanabe, she talked about often in her book. I went to Carole's website and fell in love with her paintings. Carole had also written a book called The Ecstatic Marriage of Life and Art and so I ordered a copy and was completely inspired by additional works of art and her inspiring words. It was this book and The Wishing Year that pushed me to take the action and return to art; I started painting again because of these two books, so I'm indebted to these two women.

I put myself out there and did something I never have before. I wrote a letter (fan mail!) to Carole, enclosing a color photo copy of my first painting I did. I heard back from her about two weeks later inviting me to give her a call in February. So I did - I called her a few days ago and I was nervous. But we chatted for half an hour and she's a delightful, easygoing person who melted my nerves. She ended up inviting me to come meet her in person! More than anything I want to see her paintings in person and talk to her. She's had so much life experience and has made a success of her career as an artist. What a wise person and mentor to have. That was a wish I had, actually, to have a mentor whose art work I admire and who is also a savvy business person. So there it is - on March 1st, I'm driving to Sebastapol, where she lives, to spend some time and learn, grow, share and be inspired. Thank You Universe!!!

I've been spending time on Squidoo making lenses and it's been fun. I have three made so far and plan to make some more. It's good writing practice and it can even earn some money, too!

Here are my lenses:
Tips for Expat Women in Thailand
Some Western Restaurants in Bangkok, Thailand
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a GREAT Movie

So there you go. I'll update my Squidoo pages as they come. I'm having fun, too!

New Painting Photos on Display at my Fine Art Blog

Please go visit my new Art Blog to see the paintings I did for my mother's birthday. Her actual birthday is today, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM. I hope you had a wonderful day.

love,
Amy

Update

I've been pretty busy, hence my not posting so much on this blog. I now have a Fine Art Blog to document my painting progress. I'm nearly finished with my mother's birthday painting and once she receives it, I shall post photos of the painting, including pictures of the stages of painting.

Then every Tuesday I have my painting class, which I eagerly look forward to every week. In between classes, I work on my painting for the class and I work on my extracurricular painting (in this case, Mom's). So I've been staying up every night til 11:00, working.

I cannot fall asleep right away, of course, because I'm caught up in the grips of the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. I'm reading the last book, Breaking Dawn. I read at any spare moment throughout the day - the book's got it's fangs lodged deeply in my psyche! So by the time I fall asleep, it's nearly midnight.

I still get up early, but my alarm is now for 5:45 AM, not 4:45 AM. I don't technically wake up at that time... I stumble into the kitchen and start the coffee machine and lie down on the sofa until the beep beep beep of the coffee maker goes off, telling me it's brewed. It allows me about 20 minutes of snoozing in the meantime.

I've been checking all the links to my expanded book to The Expat Woman's Guide to Living in Bangkok. I've expanded it to all of Thailand and the last few days have been rechecking the web links to ensure they're all up to date.

Then this Thursday, Golf and I are going to record Speak Like a Thai Volume 6, Everyday Conversations. I've been the female native English speaker and Golf the male Thai speaker since Volume 2, Thai Slang and Idioms, so I'm happy and excited to record this next installment.

I've got more in the works and shall blog about it soon, but that's a quick update which explains my absence on Peek Inside.

Recommended Movie

Dad took Golf and me out to the movies last night and we saw "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. If you're considering going, then please do see it! It goes all against our humanness, being born old and growing younger as Benjamin Button ages, and how this movie handles his unique situation in his relationships is emotional. I know this is a good movie when I'm still thinking about the story the next day.

The movie had me thinking about the stages of life we all get to go through and that every human contemplates and experiences as long as they're alive and conscious. Brad Pitt was an excellent actor and of course looked gorgeous as he grew younger. Cate Blanchette was absolutely beautiful and brilliant as usual and I was pleased to see another favorite actress, Tilda Swinton.
Go see this movie!

One of my first paintings

With all the talk I've been doing about my art and painting, I wanted to finally share with you my second painting I've done on my own. I won't bother showing you the practice works we do in art class unless it turns out to be glorious.

I finished this one last night. It's a ginkgo leaf and I just love how they look when they turn that beautiful golden color and drop like coins around the trees in autumn. It's just absolutely gorgeous, not to mention their unique, fan-like shape. So here it is.

Ginkgo Leaf 1
acrylic on 8x10 canvas board

Christmas Lights!

There's a popular street in Alameda that has a fabulous Christmas lights display every year and this is the second year we've taken Aidan. Last night we finished dinner early and the weather was cooperating so we decided that was the night to go. Every house on this street is decked to the hilt and there are carolers strolling around and singing and even a Santa Claus in the middle island for kids. People come from all over to see this display and it was a lot of fun to go - some displays were quite creative such as one with a Nightmare Before Christmas theme and another using plastic lawn flamingos with antlers instead of reindeer. Aidan was beyond excited with it all.



This was Aidan's first experience sitting on Santa's lap. We went through a brief rehearsal as we stood in line for his turn about what to expect. I didn't want him to be scared. He did great and totally enjoyed sitting on Santa's lap and telling him what he wanted for Christmas. While we don't really celebrate Christmas, I might be persuaded to getting Aidan a little somethin from Santa every year. He loves Christmas - what kid doesn't?

Below are more pics from some of the great displays.

39

Yeah, I'm 39 today and like anybody who gets older, I contemplated the aging process and something about entering midlife is weird. I think this is something that everybody goes through as we enter the passage from youth to middle age and then into our senior years. Even as my face, body and hair are changing (not an easy thing to see either!) I was contemplating that as I'm going these life stages, at least I'm making this journey with someone by my side who is also going through the same thing. And I look at the fresh, round, perfect face of my little son and I understand on an instinctual level about passing on what we know and believe on to the next generation. I also find comfort that the thoughts and feelings I've been having is not new and NO ONE is exempt from getting older.

Anyway, so happy birthday to me. :)

Chinese Proverb About Money I Liked

With money you can buy a house, but not a home.

With money you can buy a clock, but not time.

With money you can buy a bed, but not sleep.

With money you can buy a book, but not knowledge.

With money you can buy a doctor, but not good health.

With money you can buy a position, but not respect.

With money you can buy blood, but not life.

With money you can buy sex, but not love.

Project after my Book is Done

Once I'm done writing my book to include all of Thailand, I'm going to start a new project on myself based on a book called The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron. It is a 12 week program with exercises to access and reawaken your creativity and it has gotten rave reviews. I've forced mine down for so many years that it needs some serious resuscitation. It will certainly help with my painting!

Deep in the Midst of Potty Training!

Last week, with the Thanksgiving holiday and our Thailand trip at an end and routine returned to the family, I had had enough of Aidan's diapers and decided it was high time he be potty trained, even though he wasn't enthusiastic about it. I'm dreadfully tired of diapers and their high expense - besides this kid is 3 1/2 years old - it's high time he uses a toilet!

The first two days were 100% accidents and I was puzzled and rather depressed that my son didn't get it, especially being as old as he is. But on day three, he went to the toilet every single time with no accidents. He was especially motivated by the small chocolate coin I'd give him as a reward. He still poops in his diaper, but that will change soon too. We're hoping to start him in a preschool program a few days a week once he gets potty trained.

Today

is my husband's birthday.

Happy Birthday Tii Rak. You're the best and I love you forever.

kisses,
Amy

Painting Class

I'm very excited to be taking my first art class since I've been in college in the early/mid 1990s. Beginning this Tuesday and every Tuesday for the next 10 weeks, I'll be taking a class on acrylic painting for beginning and intermediate students at the local adult school. It's only $85 for these 10 sessions at two hours each class, which I think is unbelievably cheap - you'd pay that much for a single two hour workshop!

I think it will be a great way to kick start my painting and it's a way to get some time in to paint every week AND get some formal instruction. I also enjoy being amongst the other students, sharing ideas and just being with others who like to paint. :) I'm really excited about it!

Home Again

It's five in the morning! Hooray for jetlag. :)

Today will be spent unpacking all our stuff. We left with two pieces of check in luggage that were filled only half full with clothing and things we needed and we came back with three!

It was a lovely trip and Aidan got to get to know his father's side of the family and immerse himself in Thai language. Golf enjoyed his FOOD the most and caught up with his family. I enjoyed some leisures and luxuries I don't indulge in very often at home such as getting my hair washed and blow dried at the hair dressers (for $3.45 incl. tip) and mani/pedicure twice (for $6.31). A manicure/pedicure in my town costs me nearly $30 after I give a tip, so I was happily keeping up my nails. :) I also got one foot massage for the same price for one hour.

We all stayed with his sisters at his childhood home that has since turned into a neighborhood that is very crowded, noisy and busy with four lanes of heavy traffic. I'm grateful to have stayed here though because it saved us a significant amount of money in accommodation, but in coming back home, my neighborhood feels and sounds deserted and silent!

Two favorite highlights from my trip:

• Meeting Catherine from Women Learning Thai blog. She took me to the British Club for a delicious lunch and fascinating conversation. The time went by far too quickly when you're with interesting company.
  
• Visiting my former school and the neighborhood Golf and I lived. Before going to my school we had lunch at Bon Marche Market, about a block from our old condo high rise. We used to eat there every weekend and it's gone through a renovation in the three years we've been away and it's VERRRY nice now.
  Afterward we walked to my old school and met with former admin staff including the school director and the principal. Unfortunately all my former students are no longer at this school and I was very disappointed that I didn't get to see any of them. I did get to visit with one teacher who is still there. Sue is a Thai-American, raised in the US and reconnecting with her Thai culture. She's been at this school for about three years now and we had a very lovely chat.
  We spent about an hour at my old school, then we stopped at the grocery store in our old condo complex. In that shopping area there is also a computer shop among other shops, and Golf was friends with the computer shop owner who has a son about Aidan's age. So we stopped by to say hello and see his son. They had a nice reunion and Aidan got to meet their son and it was very cute to see them together. Then unexpectedly, Golf saw a retired expat Italian friend he had made who had bought a condo in this complex. He and his Thai wife also have a son about Aidan's age and we got to visit with them too.
  It was really a lot of fun for the both of us, each of us getting to meet up with old friends and reminiscing about living in this part of Bangkok, so quiet and lovely compared to where we were staying in Saphan Kwai.
  

There were only two disappointments on this trip. One was that Aidan got sick. He got that traveler's bug that you get when you're unfamiliar with the food, water and climate of your environment. He was laid in bed all day on the Loy Krathong holiday, the holiday I wanted to take him out and experience. Poor baby - you know when a hyper little boy cannot get out of bed and has a fever that he really is sick. It took over a week for him to get over his runny nose and cough, but his fever lasted only a day. We then got him a flu shot a week later and that made him feel sick that day too (projectile vomiting!) My poor baby got well a few days before it was time to go back home.

The other disappointment was not being able to go to the beach. Reports were coming in that there were storms throughout the Gulf of Thailand, and the resort city we wanted to go to was on the Gulf. No sense going if it was going to rain, so besides one day trip we took, we spent the entire time in Bangkok.

I'll write more later and tell you about some of the stuff I bought and post some pictures too!

Obama!!!

Here in Bangkok I've been closely watching the election returns and I have to say I couldn't be more thrilled about our new President. Just watched his acceptance speech video and can he be an inspiring speaker. I'm looking forward to this new era. HOORAY

Leaving today

We're all excited, packed and ready to go. Golf is more excited about eating over there than anything else! LOL! So this is my last bit of time on the internet before I'm over and out for awhile. Gonna check my other blogs. I'll be back November 21st and may upload some pics between now and then, we shall see. Bye for now!

Getting ready to go

Earlier this week I called to confirm or reservation on our flight to Bangkok. It was six days in advance and it's a good thing I called that day; our flight had been canceled (as flights often are these days) and we were rescheduled a day EARLIER than we had booked.

So we're leaving day after tomorrow, not on Tuesday. Which is fine -- Golf finished up all his jobs and the new itinerary did not conflict with his work.

This weekend is busy, of course. This afternoon I have a hair appointment and I'm going to clean, clean, clean this apartment. I love returning back to a clean home. And we're bringing out the luggage to start the packing.

We've already successfully booked our hotel in Bangkok the first night. We arrive at the airport at 2 AM and so won't get to the hotel until close to 3 or 3:30 AM! It's because of this late hour that we booked a hotel, otherwise we'd go straight to my sister in law's house.

We're also trying an experiment with Aidan and the whole huge time change. Starting this morning, I let him sleep as late as he wants to, which was only an extra 35 minutes than normal. We're not going to attempt to put him down for a nap and we'll let him stay up as late as he can at night. I expect he will sleep later tomorrow and even later Monday morning, the day of our departure. I know it's not much, but anything to make the transition easier for him is our objective.

It's exciting around our home today!

One Week From TODAY!

It's been sinking in the last few days - in exactly one week we'll be off to Thailand!!!

The week before your big trip, the reality of it finally sets in and it's time to get ready to go. I've been purchasing a few little bits that we need to take with us (most stuff we plan to get while there) and nailing down the logistics - paying bills online or arranging for their future payments so we don't have to worry while we're gone.

Today I'm off to the Eddie Bauer outlet store. I hope they still have some of their lightweight capri pants in stock - hopefully on clearance by now. I have one pair that fit me well and I don't like wearing shorts these days. So one pair isn't enough and jeans are too hot in Bangkok. A new swim suit would be nice to find as well as we'd like to take a side trip to the beach.

Woo hoo! The time is drawing near!

What a Great Sunday!

I had the best time with Melanie yesterday seeing the Open Studios in San Francisco. Golf and I have only had Carolyn or my mother watch Aidan for a couple of hours while we go to a movie, but yesterday it was for six hours! So a great big huge THANK YOU to Carolyn for enduring for that long AND for changing a poopy diaper on a kid that is old enough to use a toilet.

Golf came with Mel and me and we dropped him off to do his own thing. He's not into seeing art the way Mel and I am but he needed to take advantage of his freedom so he just wanted to be out and about in the city, browsing stores and relaxing in a coffee shop, just enjoying himself. He had a great time.

One of the best things I like about Open Studios is that I get to meet and talk to the artists themselves. All the artists I met yesterday were so very friendly, and of course we could relate with one another (with the artists whose work I really enjoyed, that is - I'd likely relate less with one whose works were not to my taste). Best of all, I got to meet and speak with each of the artists I profiled in my previous posts. They were each inspiring and happy to talk about the techniques they used in their paintings, their opinions and philosophies about their work, how long they've been painting and how their paintings have changed over the years.

It was a great, great day! One of the galleries was a space that Mel and I used to go to for rave parties back in the mid 90s called "Sweet". Still looks the same and seeing that space brought back fun memories from well over 10 years ago - wow, 10 years!

Anyway, it was the best time I've had in a long while, filled with no worries about the kidlet and just indulging in my own adult time and interests. It was wonderful! :)

Open Studios

I'm very excited about tomorrow. I'm going to go to San Francisco with my best friend Melanie to see some art with Open Studios! For over 30 years, San Francisco Open Studios has provided the public with an opportunity to see artists in their workspaces. As the largest and first open studios program in the country, San Francisco Open Studios showcases artists without judgment and invites art lovers to make friends and start or build their art collections.

A few weeks ago I picked up the catalog and artist directory for this year's Open Studios, and many of the artists whose sample works in that catalog looked appealing to happened to have their showings this weekend. I'm especially excited to see the works by these artists:

Matthew J. Frederick



Jennifer Porreca

and

Lance Scott

This weekend's Open Studios is in an area of San Francisco that I'm rather familiar with, since I used to live there. Mel and I plan to find a parking spot and just walk walk walk, and the plan is to get lunch at Goat Hill Pizza on Potrero Hill - I haven't been there in years, but there's a gorgeous view of the city from that vantage.

I'm looking forward to an adult day out! A big thank you to Carolyn for watching Aidan!!!!

Super Aidan!

Since we're not going to be in the US for Halloween this year, Golf went ahead and got Aidan a Superman costume. Aidan's been on a Superman kick lately, using towels as a cape and listening to the movie soundtrack. He's one happy boy in his costume!

Bummed About My Toastmasters Club

We now have only eight active members in our Toastmasters Club, and of those eight, we're lucky if half of them show up on any given Thursday. I'm very disappointed in this, but apparently it's common in clubs everywhere, and not just Toastmasters.

People are too busy in their evenings, I guess. It's a by-product of my previous post of people cramming too much into their schedules and having too much work to do, too long of a commute to make and frankly, if there is any time left over for family in the evenings, that's where it should be spent, not at a Toastmasters Club, really. In the end, people just don't have the spare time for any fun extracurricular activities for self improvement and socialization with others in the community.

The decision about our club is that come January 2009, if there is not an increase in members, this club will shut down. Fortunately there is another club in Alameda and the remaining members and I will transfer to the other club. It's just kind of sad as this club I'm in has survived since 1972...

Simple Living Simple Thinking

I happened to see Oprah the other day and it was about cutting back your expenses and living more frugally. She's been having shows recently that reflect the concern with this deep recession we're going through and what all of us can do to ride it through.

I felt great because most of the advice was what Golf and I follow all the time and is a way of life for us, like cooking at home, bringing your lunch if you're going out to work, running your errands at one trip to save gas, renting videos instead of going to the movies, going to the library instead of buying books. We don't have to make any sort of adjustments to this failing economy at the moment because we're already doing the right things.

Golf and I just have not been bitten by the ultra-consumption bug that seems to have gripped most people in America. We're not living like po' folks, and the number one thing I cherish is the TIME that I have for my family that I wouldn't have if I worked outside the home.

I just finished a library book called Get Satisfied, and it's about twenty different people who had found satisfaction with enough - and each had a different definition of what constituted as enough. It's very nice to see a movement of people who are committed to slowing down and living well in this hyper fast, ultra consuming, time sucking life that most tend to live. Not for me.

Painting from photos

I found a really cool blog called Different Strokes from Different Folks.

The blog author posts a photo weekly and artists submit their rendition of the photo in their own art, which is then posted on her blog. It's very interesting!

Nothing much happening of late. It's finally starting to act like fall weather around here. ;)

I'm Going to Paint!!!

I cannot express how excited I am. But let me start from the very beginning to tell you my news.

A recent book I read called The Wishing Year, by Noelle Oxenhandler, involved art and getting involved with art. In snooping her website, (which I do for all authors I read) I found the site of one of the most influential people she had in her life during the time of her writing. This artist, Carole Watanabe, is a person I would love to get to know and have as a mentor. She's a successful artist AND business person, so a life of poverty for someone living the life of an artist is not a given, as Carole has proven.

So of course I went to Carole's website, artfully.com to see her works, which are gorgeous. Well, she's got a book out too, about the Ecstatic Marriage of Life and Art. The blurb for the book is:

Do you wish you were an artist? Are you an artist who wishes you could actually build a sustainable life around your art? Then read Carole Watanabe’s beautiful and lavishly illustrated new book, The Ecstatic Marriage of Life and Art. Offering wisdom from a lifetime of Carole’s personal journals, it is a companion volume to Noelle Oxenhandler’s book, The Wishing Year.

The answer to Carole's two questions is a loud and unrestrained YES!!!!

I have always wanted to create art. In my childhood that's all I did. In college I took art classes, but ended up majoring in graphic design (so I wouldn't be a poor pauper) and discovered graphic design didn't float my boat. I let my art side slip away. I still went to galleries often, especially when I lived in San Francisco. I also explored the art scene in Bangkok, and I got the opportunity to teach art to kids at the two schools I worked at when I lived there.

But to learn to paint on my own and create for the sake of creating is something that has slipped away over the years, but now I am inspired to begin again. There is nothing, and I mean NOTHING else in the world that gives me such inspiration, focus and feelings of near ecstasy. When in the midst of drawing or painting a picture, I forget to eat or drink and the concept of time vanishes. Going into an art store makes me feel giddy. The smells of the linseed oil and wood for the canvas framing and other new materials smells creates feelings of deep happiness.

So I decided to carve out the time I need to do this. I have thought long and hard of where to paint in our apartment (far from art studio style) and when I can do it. Yesterday I bought some supplies and I already have my portable easel. You can be sure I will share with you some of my creations and while I'm sure my early works will be a bit sketchy as I get back into practice, my future pieces should be something to be proud of.

Here's to ART!!!

New Review for Expat Women in Bangkok

The first review of The Expat Woman's Guide to Living in Thailand (That Men Like, Too!) has arrived! Thank you, Catherine Wentworth, for such a well-written piece . You can see the original on her website.

******************************************

What's a woman gotta do around here to get a bite…

When a western woman arrives in Bangkok, she's overwhelmed with a multitude of tasty sites and resources on offer. Mostly for men.

Bangkok, a city for the hungry male? Or is it?

First up (when googling), she'll find Stickman's Bangkok. A classic. And while there's decent information on offer, from a female point of view, we be going hungry.

Bangkok Bob is another fav of mine. But again, it's heavy on the guy angle (as it would be).

Other well-written sites have the same tang. There's interesting chunks for sure, but I don't really need to know that some poor sod paid over the going price, or how to investigate a Thai bar girl, or even the ins and outs of a man's guide to Bangkok life (but I will peek).

With a female flavour, I need to know about reasonable housing and what areas to avoid, the nearest market to suit my tastes, where to eat, the best masseurs (and why), English book stores (should I bring my own), what shops have shoes in my size (ditto), how to make new friends (male and female), and tips on important Thai customs (a biggie for women avoiding uncomfortable snafus). And all in my particular brand; a zesty, zingy, female munch.

And that's where Amy's ebook, the Expat Women's Guide to Living in Thailand comes in.

Amongst it all you'll find needed resources such as BNOW (Bangkok Network of Women), British Women's Group (Bangkok), and the Bangkok Guide (online).

And that's just the icing on the cake. Or (as they say out here), The Big Mango

Take a DEEP breath while I do a quick skim down the index. You know, just to see if I can grab your fancy.

Right away you'll get an indispensable dose of Thai etiquette (whatever you do, do not skip this section), possible ways to get around Bangkok and beyond (airport, taxi, buses, subway, skytrain, tuk tuks, boats, motorcycle taxis, maps, car and driver hire), everything to do with money (cost of living, taxes, tipping, paying bills, credit cards and transferring money), safety tips (emergency numbers and personal tips from women living in BKK), accommodation (where, what, how and how much), communications (landlines, mobiles, Internet and postal services), shopping (supermarkets, hypermarkets, malls, tech malls, markets, book stores and more), eating out and in (street hawkers, restaurants to drool over and who delivers), health (hospitals, dental, insurance, pharmacies, fitness clubs and parks), entertainment (cinema, concerts and cultural centres), organisations (women's groups, Chambers of Commerce, cultural clubs, expat clubs and those with special interest), Thai language learning (where you'll find Women Learn Thai )… all to delight the female palette.

So what I'm saying is this. That Amy has one whopper of a resource for expat women living in Bangkok. Bar none. She updates often, so be sure to read her blog. And if you have tips of your own, don't be shy. Amy's not.

Time to talk about Amy

Although western women are outnumbered here, we are not exactly scarce (even if it seems so).

Expat women in Bangkok are successful teachers, writers, designers, mothers, wives and business owners.

But not all women slide into this city as smoothy as a finely baked souffle. Like Amy did.

Amy left her comfy position back in the US. Packed what she needed. Then changed her life forever.

Within months of being taken under the wing of a knowledgeable American, Amy started helping others coming into Bangkok fresh. And that's really when the idea for the Expat Women's Guide to Living in Thailand came about. From Amy's desire for exploration, excitement and a taste for all things new.

Amy's adventure on buses, boats and tuk tuks eventually led to a greater adventure. Her dear Thai husband Golf. And (as often happens), they now have a sweet addition, Aidan.

Amy presently resides in California with her young family, hopping over to Bangkok for experiences new and old. I can't wait to see what's new on the menu, for sure.

Mentioned resources…

The Expat Woman's Guide to Living in Thailand (that men like too): Book and site
The Expat Woman's Guide to Living in Thailand: Blog

BNOW (Bangkok Network of Women)
British Women's Group (Bangkok)
Bangkok Guide (online)

Absolutely Bangkok: The portal for the Bangkok connoisseur
Bangkok Bob: A guide to Bangkok
Bangkok Diaries: Tales from the "Big Mango"
Stickman's Bangkok: Living, working, travelling, and teaching English in Bangkok
The FARANG Speaks 2 Much: Insiders take on Thailand

_________________________________________________________

Catherine Wentworth, a semi-retired communication designer, is an expat by default. Now a resident of Bangkok, she's making her way through the ins and out of the Thai language and culture via Women Learn Thai. Care to follow along?

Taking a Leap

The current book I'm reading, The Wishing Year, by Noelle Oxenhandler, has got me thinking about art. I've always wanted to get into art, and I have a collection of beautiful papers sitting in a bag in my bedroom, waiting to be used one day in a beautiful collage/painting.

I've always had an excuse not to pursue it: no time, no money, so space, other responsibilities. But I'm getting to a point in my life now that if I could devote a few hours a week to my art, a whole new world could open up to me - it is my passion, it's just been buried for many years. I even majored in graphic design so that I could produce art and be paid for it. I only discovered later that it was a completely fulfilling pursuit.

Today I found a Craigslist ad that could break me of my excuses (except that I must shop for art supplies!)

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/ats/819944470.html

UPDATE: I just now responded to the ad. What's the harm in finding out more. It's better than letting this opportunity disappear forever. I'll let you know what happens!

What do you think?

My New Bonsai

I live in apartment. No balcony, no back yard, no front yard, no nothing for nurturing nature. I love plants and gardening and when I go to Mom and Dad's out in the country, I do a lot of gardening.

Golf gave me a good idea the other day and encouraged me to get a bonsai tree to raise. So that's what I did! Last Sunday was the Oakland Chinatown Street Festival, and Chinatown is where Aidan and I walk every Sunday while Golf goes to the nearby flea market. Anyway, I found a good deal on a pretty little bonsai tree. It's a juniper with the lovely little ceramic figure underneath. It was also pretty cheap, only $17. I wanted to start out with an inexpensive plant so that if I mess up and kill it, it won't be a huge loss. So here's my pretty little bonsai, my indoor garden.

Pictures of the Hornet

We've got a national treasure and historical museum right in our own back yard here in Alameda, the USS Hornet, a WWII aircraft carrier that also participated the Apollo 11 manned space mission. I love museums and Golf especially loves WWII history so it was a great combination for the both of us to go as a family. This was also a chance for Aidan to practice his good behavior and he was a very good boy for the most part, until the very end. Here are some of the pictures from our outing!

When in ROME!

My sister Anna told me about this HBO series, ROME and she said it was excellent. Then Mom said the same thing, aside from all the dirty naughty sex scenes. :) But they were right. Golf and I have rented the first season on Netflix and I'm completely hooked! It's very well done and apparently it is historically accurate as well. The costumes, music, acting, everything about it is big budget. I'm very happy to see Indira Varma in there as well, as Niobe. She played in Kama Sutra, another one of my favorite movies.

So if you get a chance to see this series, do it! And to my friends in Thailand, if you see this DVD series for sale, snap it up, it's got an international cast and you will be riveted to your sofas!