Saturday, May 16, 2009

WolframAlpha

I was blown away by the new WolframAlpha search engine. It's totally different from any other -- it is taking all the world's knowledge and putting it in retrievable form in formats that have to be seen to be believed. Go to the home page and click on "Watch Overview Video" in the right-hand column -- and don't let your jaw hit the floor. Anyone who does research on ANY TOPIC will make this a go to engine.

For instance -- I've always wanted to know the complete nutritional breakdown of the smoothie I make for lunch most days. When I tried entering all the things I put in the smoothie (about a dozen) I exceeded the limit of the engine. So I just put three to try it out: 1/4 cup fresh orange juice, half a banana, and 1 tbsp. blueberries. Here's what it returned -- pretty amazing: (I only wish it would let me enter all the elements.)

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Thursday, May 14, 2009

Lizzie Originals

Lizzie in Chicago has begun exercising her inner artist -- I love these paintings (acrylics on canvas). They are roughly 2' x 3' in size. My advice? Buy now before the word gets out and they skyrocket in price. :-) It's no wonder that her company has her go around to the other Chicago-area stores to help with "dressing" the inside of the stores. Good eye!

Flowers (the upper right corner has a piece of ceiling light shade that crept into the picture):

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Just got this picture today -- beautiful!

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Keep it up, Lizzie!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

You Know It's Spring When . . .

When I got home from picking up my CSA box today . . . (see what was in it below -- gets more full every week)

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. . . I noticed a pair of White Cabbage Butterflies bouncing around some transplants sitting by the front bed. That's when you know spring has arrived. They pupate over the winter and hatch into butterflies in the spring when they mate. The female goes about looking for members of the mustard family of plants (Cruciferae or Brassicaceae) on which to lay her eggs (which hatch into bad news caterpillars that devour these plants -- especially broccoli and cabbage). I didn't get a clear picture of the butterfly, but you can see the tiny egg she laid on a kale leaf (kale is part of the mustard family) -- the tiny white dot at the bottom edge of the leaf. Needless to say, the egg is no longer there:

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Sunday, May 10, 2009

Prayers for Priscilla

My friend, Priscilla, lives in Santa Barbara, CA, in the heart of the Jesusita Fire that has raged this past week. Unfortunately, the fire has touched her personally as it has many others. She sent the following pix that were posted on a local news website identifying the properties/addresses in some of the hardest-hit areas.

The first picture shows the firemen attempting to quench the flames that were attacking her house (she rents a portion of a home from a friend). Here's her description: Barely visible on the right is a fireman setting up a ladder to reach the corner of her house that had just started to burn. The side of the house was "scorched" and the eaves were beginning to burn; the glass in the windows on that side had shattered from the heat. A wooden storage structure in the back, along with a good portion of her (antique) shop inventory, was burned. She thinks the burning storage facility is what attracted the firemen to the house. I haven't received a follow-up from her, but my understanding is that the house, while badly damaged, was not destroyed.

The second picture is of the house across the street from Priscilla's, apparently fully engulfed and destroyed.


















Priscilla's faith will keep her close to God as she works through this. But for all who pray, please ask God for wisdom and patience for her as she assesses the damage and figures out how to move forward. Fortunately, she has family and lots of friends from church and her business in the area. But, as it would be for any of us, these kinds of disruptions are a major body-blow -- but always result in unexpected opportunities to make course corrections, which we all need at times.

The promise that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28) becomes real at times like this.

P.S. Update late Sunday from Priscilla -- the house was spared. A lot of scorched exterior wood, broken windows, burned fence, and the loss of the storage building and contents -- but the house is still standing. Thank you, Lord. Still, they're without power and lots of cleanup and repairs are looming -- your prayers of thanksgiving and for guidance are still appreciated.