…You Make Lemonade!

Of course! Makes perfect sense, this age-old saying.

Well, I’ve put the first six months of 2008 behind me. And, I’m moving on with the notion of making “lemonade” for the remaining six months!

So, here I am currently finding myself in Santa Barbara, in the Hotel MariMonte, and across the street are rows of tall, graceful palm trees and that oh-so-gorgeous view of the Pacific Ocean. I’m here with my wife who is attending a conference, so this is a business trip and my wife asked me to accompany her. Read more

Although it isn’t possible for most folks to buy their very own island like actor Johnny Depp’s $3.6 million tropical paradise in The Bahamas… I’m sure many of us can travel to any number of island destinations around the world.

My wife and I have been thinking about possibly retiring to an island like Kauai, or to Palawan in the Philippines. Or maybe just staying on an island for a month, renting a place by the beach. As long as there was Internet access and a place to play music, I think it would be awesome to live on an island for a while.

The online edition of Islands Magazine lists The 10 Best Islands To Live On:

1. St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

2. Ambergris Caye, Belize

3. Culebra, Puerto Rico

4. Bequia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines

5. Eleuthera, Bahamas

6. Kauai, Hawaii

7. Gozo, Malta

8. Vanua Levu, Fiji

9. Orcas Island, Washington

10. Palawan, Philippines

Hmm… island living? It’s a big step, but a worthy possibility to further research and explore… Have you ever thought about living on an island?

I had no idea the largest swimming pool in the world is located in Chile! I love swimming pools, but this is like a dream pool!

It is more than 1,000 yards long, covers 20 acres, has a 115-foot deep end, and holds 66 million gallons of water.

The Guinness Book of Records has named the vast pool beside the sea in Chile as the biggest in the world.

But if you fancy splashing out on one of your own — and you have the space to accommodate it — then beware: this one took five years to build, cost nearly 1 billion, and the annual maintenance bill will be 2 million.

The man-made saltwater lagoon has been attracting huge crowds to the San Alfonso del Mar resort at Algarrobo, on Chile ’s southern coast, since it opened last month.

Its turquoise waters are so crystal clear that you can see the bottom even in the deep end.

It dwarfs the world’s second biggest pool, the Orthlieb — nicknamed the Big Splash — in Morocco , which is a mere 150 yards long and 100 yards wide. An Olympic size pool measures some 50 yards by 25 yards.

Sunset, Manila Bay, Philippines, originally uploaded by Michelle Lyles.

This is a beautiful photo of a sunset at Manila Bay in The Philippines. Love the colours.

The family is planning a trip to The Philippines in June 2008. I can’t wait to go back. For me I think it’s been almost 20 years?

Anyway, we’re planning on visiting the following Asian cities in this order: Tokyo, Japan - Kyoto, Japan - Beijing, China - Hong Kong - Manila, Philippines. Can we do this in 15 days? Hmm…

I can’t believe I forgot about these old Yosemite photos from 2000. In my old online journal at carlos.ricebowljournals.com I have a photo section and I didn’t even link to the photo collection from Yosemite! They were uploaded but never linked.

So I just thought I’d share them now: Yosemite 2000

Okay, what is striking about this old collection of photos is how small my childrren were at the time, and also my nieces and nephew. Well, we’re talking a span of 8 years, and thus the change from childhood/adolesence to young adulthood is pretty dramatic.

So, I visited Yahoo.com for the first time this year and right off the bat I see the top article:

Top 5 Habits To Increase Longevity

Okay, this is information I’ve read about before. Especially the part about eating several smaller meals a day, instead of 3, or even 1 meal a day like I used to do long ago.

In the Western culture, meals are taken three times a day, but it is much better to eat five smaller meals. When you eat smaller portions five times a day, you deliver a steady stream of nutrients, blood sugar, and energy to your body throughout the day.

Additionally, eating this way is less taxing on the digestive and metabolic systems and also reduces your risk of heart disease.

. . . .

The Home with New Shutters

. . . .

Eating 5 or 6 smaller meals a day is something I’ve been doing lately, so I’m already into that habit. I totally agree that it’s less taxing on the digestive system as a whole. Easier on the body in general. And I notice I have more energy throughout the day. If one feels like taking a nap or feeling sluggish after a meal, then that’s probably when you’ve eaten too much food at one time, obviously.

And I’ve also read before that a good habit doesn’t take hold until like the 19th day, so the following makes sense. After so many days a habit becomes automatic:

It takes 14 to 21 days of repetitive behavior to form a new pattern in your brain. Once the pattern is formed, it becomes an automatic behavioral response.

Okay. The Top 5 Habits….

1. Eat five small meals a day.

2. Climb the stairs instead of using elevators.

3. Laugh it up!

4. Drink 8 glasses of water every day.

5. Unwind with meditation.

Sure, these make perfect sense. And I pretty much already follow these with exception to drinking 8 glasses of water every day. Does anyone really do this? As a mostly raw vegan I eat plenty of fruits and veggies that contain mostly water. But, I’ve read recently that there is a difference between getting your water from food and drinking the water directly. But, I’d said I can drink about 4-5 glasses of water a day. I have plenty of juices and smoothies, but I wonder if it counts or not.

Resolutions

People usually say they don’t make New Year’s resolutions, or they make them around this time of year.

Sure, I’ve made them. But I think the world “resolution” has gotten a bad rep over the years.

I prefer the word “Goal” nowadays.

It’s important to make plans and set goals at the beginning of the year. I’m sort of bad at making all those detailed goals. But I’m good at setting some big goals, like traveling and acquiring something of importance.

Here are some of my random goals for 2008:

1. Improve on my (mostly raw) vegan diet even further.

2. Get a dehydrator (for making gourmet raw vegan dishes).

3. Travel to Asia in June.

4. Celebrate New Year’s Eve at Times Square in New York.

5. Finish the meditation garden in the backyard.

6. Perform more on piano (and practice more).

7. Improve on my yoga and meditation practices.

And I think that’s plenty to think about. I think it’s important not to set too many goals. Then one might compromise a few important goals and simply make it too hard to achieve them all.

But, I’ll definitely have to follow the above tips for longevity.