Historia de Genji

Please visit my girlfriend Macarena's exhibit in Fukuoka, Japan. Titled Genji's History, with beautiful paintings. I wish I could go and visit...
The exhibit will be open from September 12th 'til September 30th 2009. Monday to Saturday from 11:30AM to 11:00PM and from 11;30AM to 6:00PM on Sundays.

Please visit and support if you have an opportunity!

Non Toxic Hand Sanitizer - Why Use Non Toxic Hand Sanitizer - thedailygreen.com

Non Toxic Hand Sanitizer - Why Use Non Toxic Hand Sanitizer - thedailygreen.com

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Hiroshima, 64 years ago - The Big Picture - Boston.com

Hiroshima, 64 years ago - The Big Picture - Boston.com

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Succesful Usborne Party & Clothing Sale this weekend!

Special thanks those that participated in the Usborne Book Party & FAYA Orphanage Fundraiser.

On Friday we held the Usborne book party. It was a very fun day with friends attending with their little ones. 
We raised about $120 from the sales of Usborne childrens books. Thank you Jennifer for introducing us to the wonderful world of Usborne books. We also received lots of clothing donations for the clothing sale on Saturday. Thank you all for your support.

On Saturday we raised $408 at the children's clothing sale. The weather was hot and sunny. 
We had a great turn out and in addition to the clothing sale we received many monetary donations for FAYA. 

Again, thanks so much for all you've done for FAYA Orphanage!

Muito obrigada por participarem do evento Usborne Book Party & FAYA Orphanage Fundraiser.

Sexta-feira foi um dia muito divertido. Principalmente porque muitas vieram acompanhadas de seus pequenos. 
Com a venda dos livros nós conseguimos arrecadar um total de $120 em livros para crianças. Para enviar ao orfanato nós escolhemos livros educativos de ABC, 123, cores e formas. 
Nós também recebemos inúmeras doações de roupinhas de bebês e de crianças maiores. Novamente, muito obrigada por suportar tão nobre causa que é a entidade FAYA.

No sábado nós conseguimos arrecadar pelo menos $408 com a venda das roupas e outras doações. O tempo estava lindo e bem quente. 
Foi com certeza um dia muito ocupado, tivemos um grande número de pessoas interessadas e inúmeras doações monetárias.

De todo coração agradeço a ajuda e o apoio! Para aquelas que não puderam comparecer, por favor vistem o site para oferecer uma doação montetária online. 

http://fayaorphanage.blogspot.com/

Qualquer valor será muito bem recebido de todo coração. 

Our vegetable garden

Please Help

As some of you may know, my Canadian best-friend, Arnica Rowan, is currently in the process of adopting twin girls from Ethiopia. They learned early this week of terrible news regarding their adoption agency in Canada, Imagine adoption. Imagine adoption is officially bankrupt, for what reason we are not entirely sure. The accounts the transition home relies on to feed and care for our children have been frozen.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/adoption-agencys-bankruptcy-devastates-families/article1217223/

We all had serious concerns regarding their children and where they would be taken care of in the coming weeks, therefore, Arnica decided that it would be best if to travel to Ethiopia immediately. Please take the time to read through this petition and sign it if you support it. Something needs to be done to help these families dreams of an Ethiopian adoption to be facilitated.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friends, Family and Supporters of International Adoption:

We need your help and support to protect the future children of families adopting internationally through Imagine Adoption. On July 10, 2009, Imagine Adoption, a government regulated agency in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada declared bankruptcy (Globe & Mail, July 14, 2009.)

It has been reported that there are more than 500 Canadian families who have been directly affected by this development. This number translates into an even greater number of children yet to be (or recently) adopted by Canadians.

The more than "500" families mentioned are at various stages in the adoption process for Ethiopia, Ecuador, Ghana, Zambia and possibly other countries.
Each family has entrusted many thousands of dollars to Imagine. As this process usually takes more than a year's time and many thousands of dollars to complete, we urge the Ministry of Children and youth Services to do the following:

Immediately determine a solution to facilitate and complete all of Imagine Adoption's active files affected by this bankruptcy filing.

As this situation has been allowed to occur while operating under the direct regulation (license) of the Ministry of Children and Youth Services it is imperative that the Government of Ontario takes an active role in ensuring the well being of the many hundreds of children and Canadian families who have found themselves devastated by this news.

As a community, the families who were working with Imagine Adoption are trying to come up with possible solutions to protect the well-being of our children and keep our dreams of starting or completing our families alive . We can't do this alone.

Please support our cause by signing this petition and encouraging all your friends and families to do the same.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/SaveOurDreamofAdoptingInternatio/index.html
Thank you for your support.

Waterton National Park with friends

 

Banff & Johnston Cannyon Falls

 

Summer Usborne Book Party & FAYA Orphanage Clothing Drive

Summer Usborne Book Party & FAYA Orphanage Clothing Drive

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Faya Orphanage Clothing Drive

FAYA Orphanage Clothing Drive!

The purpose of this event is to raise money for Faya Orphanage – a loving home for HIV+ kids in Nazaret, Ethiopia.

 

Faya Orphanage Clothing Drive

Please bring new or gently used children's clothing donations (and/or monetary donations) for Faya Orphanage in Ethiopia. We will be holding a clothing sale on August 1st, 2009 (Saturday) and all proceeds from the sale of the children's clothes will go to support Faya. The remaining clothes will be taken by families going to Ethiopia this year, together with the monetary donations and Usborne book donations.

 

Children clothing donations should be clean, undamaged, and reasonable wrinkle-free. Clothing can be folded and packed in sturdy boxes or bags. Please label the age group and boy/girl clearly on the outside. Please avoid hangers. Items that come in pairs (shoe, gloves, socks) should be kept together (shoe laces can be tied together, gloves and socks can be stuffed inside each other). Please keep pockets emptied and any belts should be securely fastened to their appropriate items.

 

Clothing Sale (from your donations):

Where: 549 Rocky Ridge Bay N.W.

When: Saturday August 1^st, 2009

Time: from 8AM til 3PM

All proceeds from the sale of the children's clothes will go to support Faya Orphanage

 

About Faya Orphanage

When you think of children in need – no home since their parents passed away, living on the streets, begging for food, taking care of younger siblings, missing to opportunity to go to school and slowly losing weight and the fight against a terrible disease: THESE are the deserving and precious children that Faya Orphanage takes care of.

 

Located in Nazareth, Ethiopia, Faya Orphanage was established by a vibrant young lady in her twenties from Saskatoon in August of 2008. It is a loving home run by competent Ethiopian staff for HIV+ (and some HIV-) children who don’t have parents or family to care for them. There are approx. 5 million orphans in Ethiopia – many of whose parents have passed away from HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB, other diseases, and poverty. Faya is one of the few places that some of these children can have a permanent home, go to school, have access to food and medication, and live without the stigma attached to HIV. Recently, the organization has also begun to sponsor poor children in Nazaret to go to school, as well as coordinate adoptions for some of the children in the home.

The organization is a registered non-profit in Canada and has applied for charitable status. Learn more about Faya Orphanage: http://fayaorphanage.blogspot.com

Please feel free to forward this information to any friends or family members that might be interested in the party, clothing drive, or clothing sale. And thanks so much for your help!

We can't wait to see you there!

Waterlife

The interactive Story of the Last Great Supply of Fresh Drinking Water on Earth.
A wonderful Great Lakes story and winner of the HotDocs Special Jury Prize - and hear Ecojustice Senior Scientist Dr. Elaine MacDonald share our leading work fighting sewage pollution and toxins, and the steps needed to protect and restore the largest freshwater reserve on Earth. It is going to be in Toronto, but I am crossing my fingers for them to come to Calgary!

Circo Udi Grudi

Calgary International Children's Festival

We enjoyed the Calgary International Children's Festival for the first time this year and we will be going there every year I think. Because we just LOVED!

Show No.1 - Butterflies
By Compagnia T.P.O., Italy
Butterflies is sure to enchant anyone who is - or ever was - a child. This stunning interactive performance invites you into a virtual world of "paintings in movement" to unleash the beauty and expressive possibilities in mixing theatre, sensory boundaries, dance, visual magic, music, and emotion. Allow yourself to be enveloped in this beautiful atmosphere and create your own theatrical art as the piece itself responds to you.

Show No.2 - O Cano
Circo Teatro Udi Grudi, Brazil
This is a show for anyone who loves music, comedy and laughter! Our three clowns live between the absurd and the unexpected. As the performance unravels a magical musical metamorphosis occurs where everything becomes something else and nothing is what it seems. This hilarious adventure is a symphony of percussion created through juggling, acrobatics, fire-swinging and clowning! Although Leo fond this show a little bit overwhelming in places, overall we really enjoyed this show!

A companhia de teatro Udi Grudi fundada em 1982 em Brasília, chegou à Calgary em Maio para participar do Festival Internacional da Criança. A companhia já percorreu mais de 20 países e diversos estados brasileiros. Desde a sua fundação, a companhia cria um show de mescla de linguagens, com circo, teatro e mísica, sempre com uma linda pitada de humor. O espetáculo chamado O CANO!

Thursday & Friday in Edmoton

Well, Leandro and I decided to drive to Edmonton while Kerry was in Montreal. So I took two days off work and headed to Edmonton on Thursday. We spent time withe grandparents and great-grandparents. It was fun! We timed so we would pick up Kerry in the airport on Saturday. Here are a few pics of this time!

Dorothy the Dinasour Show at Martha Cohen Theatre - Just Leo & Mommy

Leandro and I spent some 'mom and son' time alone, as Daddy went to Montreal for a week (work reasons). So, we decided to enjoy a show at the local theatre. It was Dorothy the Dinasour at the Martha Cohen Theatre (Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts) in downtown.

The show stars Dorothy the Dinosaur, a graduate capital of R.A.D.D (The Royal Academy of Dinosaur Dancing!) Australia’s favourite dinosaur has performed at New York’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Apollo Theatre in London and even in Shanghai and now returns to the Australian stage for this brand new show! The new Dorothy the Dinosaur show has been written by Blue Wiggle, Anthony Field, who also produced the music. Anthony Field (Wiggles) has recorded the Rosy Orchestra performing songs for Dorothy and her friends to sing along with, such as the delightful "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"! Children will love dancing to "Dr Knickerbocker" and bouncing up and down to "Come On Let’s Jump"! Captain Feathersword will be joined by Don the Postman, who sings his signature song. Wel shaked our hips with Wags the Dog and dance a fairy jig with "The Fairy Dance". Along with such hit songs as "Romp Bomp A Stomp", "To Have A Tea Party" and "Balla, Balla Bambina", audiences were ecstatic as the show culminates with "Let’s Have A Party"! The dancing is delightful and the music is really rosalicious.

Meu Amigo de Ouro

Amizade
Sincera amizade
Faz de um amigo um irmão
E do irmão um amigo
Do peito, do coração,
Amiga irmã, irmã amiga,
Não importa conotação,
O que importa é o sentimento
Que temos no coração.

“A amizade é a forma mais doce do amor”
- poesia de de Inoema Nunes Jahnke

* Poema dedicado ao amigo de ouro do Leandro. Foto tirada no evento Thomas The Train at the Heritage Park, Calgary, Alberta (12 de Maio de 2009)

The Garden

THE GARDEN is an engaging and powerful look at the famous political and social battle over the largest community garden in the US (located in South Central Los Angeles). A follow-up to Kennedy’s award-winning documentary OT: OUR TOWN, the film shows how the politics of power and greed (backroom deals, land developing, green politics, money) tragically intersect with working class families who rely on this communal garden for their livelihood. Equal parts THE WIRE and HARLAN COUNTY USA, THE GARDEN exposes the fault lines in American society and raises crucial and challenging questions about liberty, equality, and justice for the poorest and most vulnerable among us. Kenneth Turan of the LA Times said: “It’s tempting to call “The Garden” a story of innocence and experience, of evil corrupting paradise, but that would be doing a disservice to the fascinating complexities of a classic Los Angeles conflict and an excellent documentary that does them full justice.”

Happy Mother's Day

"Arise then...women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts! From the bosom of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with Our own. It says: Disarm! Disarm!"— Julia Ward Howe, Mother's Day Proclamation, 1870

Any similarity is pure coincidence

I cannot stop thinking that there are some similarities with these two! Both are really cute indeed, but look at these big eyes and little nose. Aren't them pretty alike?
For a long time I loved Jiji from Kiki's Delivery. She is cute and sweet. I actually have two of these stuffed cats at home. No wonder we own a black Kittie now. Preta is just like that. But she is not so little like Jiji anymore. Because she has gained a lot (I really mean a lot!) of weight since has been adopted from the shelter.

My seeds and I can count them too!

This was so cute. Leo was studying the different seeds and being creative about what the dyed water (colours) looked like. If you noticed, the water that belongs to the Sugar Maple seeds he called it 'syrup'. Mommy was a bit excited about the counting. 8-)

Our tree Science Project

Here are the seeds being prepared in water. Many tree seed species possess what is know as 'embryo dormancy' which must be effectively overcome before the seed can be forced to germinate given the appropiate conditions. We soaked the seeds in warm water for 48 hours and some of them are going to be under cold stratification for 4 months and others for only 2 months cold stratification followed by 4 months of warm stratification.
Stratification: seeds are in a ziplck bag filled with moistened peat and stored in the refrigerator's salad crisper compartment prior to removing and sowing seeds. That is the delicate part of the process and we are crossing our fingers to be successful.
Please wish us good luck and hope we will have some good news in a couple of months.

And the Science Project Begins

We have a fun new litte family science project: Trying to grow different types of trees. Mostly different species of maple trees. So, I got nine different of seed packages from Angel Grove Seeds. They are Flowering Crabapple, Japanese Crabapple, Sugar Maple, Virginia Creeper, Red Norway Maple, Norway maple, Japanese Maple, Amur Flame Maple and Colorado Blue Spruce.

Yeah! I really made the vanilla cake!

My first Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Icing

I had this pictures in file for a while, but now I thought would be nice to share with you. Leo making his first vanilla cake with chocolate icing. Check out, Mommy was his assitant and camera woman at same time ; -)
He was pretty good and even wanted to double check the instructions! We took the cake to our friends house for dessert and everybody loved! They were all Leo made the cake. And it was DELICIOUS! Good job!

Mercury In Tuna - Mercury Contamination Increasing In Tuna And Other Fish - thedailygreen.com

Mercury In Tuna - Mercury Contamination Increasing In Tuna And Other Fish - thedailygreen.com

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Enjoying the Nice Weather

Can we actually say Spring is here? Well, we live in Calgary, and it means we can never predict tomorrow's weather. But still, it is really nice to be able to enjoy once more the warm and sunny weather. A couple weeks ago I started my garden box project (pictures to come soon) and I am proud to have made a 8ft long x 4ft wide x 2ft tall cedar wooden vegetable box. I followed tips from: Watch My Food Grow and my friend Arnica's Vegetable Garden Box. My talented friend gave me valuable information! Soon I will be able to plant beans, cucumbers, carrots, broccoli and lettuces. Can't wait to enjoy fresh vegetables this year!

Happy Earth Day!

Celebrated every April 22, Earth Day is the largest, most celebrated environmental event worldwide. How was your Earth Day? Mine was pretty informative and fun! My company promoted a Earth Day Fair today. Lots of 'green' prizes and 'green' giveaways as well as information on a variety of different topics (composting, eco-friendly landscaping, transportation alternatives, energy management, etc. We had a display of an electric car in the parking lot in front of our building. It was an old red Volkswagen beettle. Cute!
People brought in our old electronics, batteries and light bulbs. Proceeds from sales at these tables will be donated to various charities. Cool, hey?!

Top 10 easy to-do actions on Earth Day:

1. Buy what you need, not so much what you want,
2. Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs,
3. Walk, cycle, car pool and/or use public transportation,
4. Choose local and/or organic foods that are in season (Let's support local food producers!),
5. Wash full loads of clothes in cold water (Hang to dry if you can),
6. Install ceiling fans and programmable thermostats,
7. Travel and work as close to home as possible,
8. Take short showers and close taps while brushing your teeth,
9. Choose natural, non-toxic cleaning products,
10. Donate, re-use and recycle items before throwing them into the garbage.

Those are just 10 simple things one can do right now to help the environment and the Earth. Good luck!

Yoshida Brothers - Nikata

A well deserved date with my husband

So, Kerry and I had a very well deserved date on Good Friday, while the grandparents babysat Leo. They had a blast together too!
We had a delicious Thai dinner at Pad Thai restaurant. We had Musumum Curry and Swimming Drunken Chicken. It was absolutely delicious! We stayed the night at Hotel Meterra on White Avenue in Edmonton. To compliment, we watched the movie ONE WEEK at the Princess. It was an amazing movie (we highly recommend!). Beautiful landscapes, funny and also with a drama that can make you cry. What a memorable night!

Rin' - sakura sakura

I am now a proud owner of a Jenome

It was hard to shop for a sewing machine. Not only because this is my first sewing machine ever. But also because I wanted something reasonably priced and that would have all the basics plus some extras. I wanted fancy stiching and some interesting feets too. i wanted it to be automatic and easy to use. I wanted a reliable and durable machine. At first, I was looking into the Pfaffs and Husquevarnas. But they can the pricey and then a Singer seems Ok too. But for a computerized machine the Jenome just caught my attention. Also because it was a familiar machine. The one I currently use in my sewing class is a Jenome too. Established in 1921, Janome was the first domestic producer of sewing machines in Japan. Such was its success that additional production facilities were set up in Taiwan (1969) and Thailand (1988). Together these factories greatly increased the production capacity of Janome; in fact an incredible 10 million units were produced in the last 7 years. This year alone, these plants have yielded 1.6 million units, making Janome the largest manufacturer of household sewing machines in the world.

Tenho tantas e tantas saudades....

Meus lindinhos (sobrinhos) queridos...
temos tantas e tantas e tantas saudades...
Poema modificado: 'Meus queridos que tanto amo e estimo. Por cada ano vivido, e mesmo à distância suas jornadas nós os acompanhamos. Hoje sou uma feliz tia. Porque tudo na vida que eu queria, era vez cada um de seus sonhos se realizar como uma suave e eterna melodia. Aqui deixo um pedido: Amem sempre suas raízes. Pois a vida pode deixar cicatrizes, de pedaços mal vividos e caminhos mal escolhidos. Diretrizes desconhecidas. Gotas amargas na vida. Procure viver cada dia, na mais plena e abundante harmonia. Não deixem para o outro dia, fazer o que te dê alegria. Conquistando as suas vitórias sem aos outros prejudicarem. Espero aqui ter deixado claro, que não fui uma tia de tudo ausente. Só que não pude simplismente de perto participar. Só Deus mesmo sabe neste mundo. De todo sentimento profundo, que neste coração de tia. O quanto os amo e continuarei a lhes amar.
- Original Autor desconhecido

Easter Hunt at Butterfield Acres

A fun day at the Legendary Easter Hunt at Butterfield Acres with M, A-M and little sweet A. It was a busy morning. We arrived a little late to hear the story of the Easter Bunny at the Barn. Then we head to find and collect the hidden pretend Easter Eggs (beautifully painted rocks) to help the Easter Bunny and send down to the tunnel to the secreat Easter Bunny workshop. While the Easter Bunny is busy working, we went to fill a clay pot with soil and plant some seeds to take home. Leo was into it and excited about everything going around. It was a fun morning! Thank you for the nice company guys!

Sistema anticrise: família e amigos

O riso é contagioso, como demonstra a experiência cotidiana na qual comprovamos que é muito difícil resistir ao impulso de rir quando alguém o faz de forma espontânea e natural, seja quando estamos diante da pessoa que ri ou ao assistir um programa de humor na televisão ou uma comédia no cinema.
Mas a felicidade também pode se transmitir de uma pessoa a outra como um germe, neste caso, positivo, saudável e estimulante? Foi isso o que tentaram estudar com métodos científicos os pesquisadores americanos Nicholas Christakis e James Fowler, das universidades da Califórnia, em San Diego, e de Harvard, em Boston, respectivamente, com base no "Estudo Framingham", do qual compilaram dados sobre a saúde mental de 5.124 adultos entre 1971 e 2003.
A conclusão à qual chegaram é surpreendente: a felicidade das pessoas que nos rodeiam, e não só destas, mas inclusive a das que se relacionam com elas e não conhecemos, têm uma influência direta na possibilidade de que sejamos felizes. Alguma vez você se sentiu "contagiado" pela felicidade de um amigo, conhecido ou da própria namorada ou namorado? Sente uma inexplicável e espontânea alegria diante da dos demais?
De acordo com uma recente pesquisa americana, que combina os enfoques epidemiológico e sociológico, esta sensação percebida pela maioria do povo tem uma explicação científica.Os humanos, seres sociais
Segundo os pesquisadores das universidades da Califórnia e San Diego, nos EUA, a felicidade pode ser contagiosa e, por isso, as pessoas com amigos felizes são mais propensas a ser também. Eles concluíram que este resultado é "o reconhecimento de que as pessoas são seres sociais e que bem-estar e a saúde de um indivíduo afetam os dos que o rodeiam".Os cientistas selecionaram 5.124 indivíduos, que denominaram como "egos", assim como muitas de suas pessoas próximas, como pais, irmãos, companheiros, filhos, vizinhos, colegas de trabalho, amigos e "amigos dos amigos". Assim, estudaram mais de 12 mil pessoas que estavam conectadas umas às outras em Framingham, no Massachusetts, constituindo entre elas cerca de 53.200 relações sociais.
Os pesquisadores comprovaram que os seres felizes costumam estar vinculados entre eles, da mesma forma que acontece com aqueles que são infelizes, e que uma pessoa tem 15% mais de probabilidades de se sentir bem caso esteja ligada a alguém que esbanja felicidade.No entanto, na medida em que a relação se vai distanciando, estas porcentagens vão se reduzindo até chegarem a 5,6% no caso de conhecidos mais distantes ou de "terceira linha", ou seja, os "amigos de amigos de amigos, etc." da pessoa. Além disso, os dois afirmam que aqueles que são o centro de muitas relações felizes têm mais probabilidades de seguir sendo felizes.Ter amigos alegres aumenta em 9% as probabilidades de ser feliz no futuro, enquanto ser casado ou namorar alguém feliz equivale a ter 8% mais possibilidades de felicidade. Do outro lado da moeda, os pesquisadores descobriram que se cercar de pessoas pessimistas ou negativas reduz em 7% as emoções positivas.

Green Soaps For Green Babies (And Their Parents) - thedailygreen.com

It can be a challenge to find affordable, good quality and chem-free soaps for children. I tried a variety of them and could even write my own reviews one day (perhaps this will be my next assignment). Of the main problems I found with natural soups were:
- finding a product that would not dry out the skin (sometimes I had to apply tons of moisturizer after bath because some products just dried out of the skin),
- tear free. Almost all of them were not tear free.
- price. some of organic soups are 3 times more expensive than the 'regular' ones. Wouldn't you think that putting less ingredients (chemicals) would make them a little more affordable?

Green Soaps For Green Babies (And Their Parents) - thedailygreen.com

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Sunday at the Wirawans

It is always nice to see the Wirawans. They are one of our oldest friends since living in Calgary. We know they children well and the family has been into Leandro's life since the beginning. Leo love them so much. And it is awesome to see their children growing and blossoming into great people.
Well, another best part of being invited to their house is to have the opportunity to taste the home-made Indonesian Soto Ayam Soups. Sometimes with rice, sometimes with noodles and always with interesting aromatics.
Soto Ayam soups can be described as a soup with clear broth, bright colours, incendiary chillies and lovely flavours. Love their marinades and their other types of dishes as well. We got to take home a sweet and rich marinade sauce. Lovely with chicken!
Leo and I made a delicious cherry cake with chocolate sauce on top and it was spectacular! Leo helped to use the beater and to decorate. What a great helper I have! He also had a blast with B and N. He even tried to play N's piano and enjoyed a lot. Thank you guys for a lovely evening.

變形貓頭鷹-ふくろう

Mackenzie and Leo best friends?

Leandro and I had a wonderful visit today. P and her 3 year old daughter, M, came for a playdate followed by lunch. We truly love M. She is a smart little girl, and Leandro get along so well with her. It may be the fact that their are both Aquarius and they knew each other since they were little babies. But it is so fun to hear them both laughing hard, running around the house and giggling about stuff. It was nice to talk to Pam and get her out of the house. P you're real brave lady! Our thoughts are with you always!
We had Coco Brooks Alo Mo Wana pizzas, cheese and carrot with dill dip and potato patties for lunch. And a beautiful fruit salad with strawberries, raspberries and green and red grapes. Hope to see you guys more often!

The Happy Planet Index (HPI)

The Happy Planet Index (HPI) is an innovative new measure that shows the ecological efficiency with which human well-being is delivered around the world. It is the first ever index to combine environmental impact with well-being to measure the environmental efficiency with which country by country, people live long and happy lives.
The Index doesn’t reveal the ‘happiest’ country in the world. It shows the relative efficiency with which nations convert the planet’s natural resources into long and happy lives for their citizens. The nations that top the Index aren’t the happiest places in the world, but the nations that score well show that achieving, long, happy lives without over-stretching the planet’s resources is possible. The HPI shows that around the world, high levels of resource consumption do not reliably produce high levels of well-being (life-satisfaction), and that it is possible to produce high levels of well-being without excessive consumption of the Earth’s resources. It also reveals that there are different routes to achieving comparable levels of well-being. The model followed by the West can provide widespread longevity and variable life satisfaction, but it does so only at a vast and ultimately counter-productive cost in terms of resource consumption.
The Happy Planet Index (HPI) strips the view of the economy back to its absolute basics: what we put in (resources), and what comes out (human lives of different length and happiness). The resulting Index of the 178 nations for which data is available, reveals that the world as a whole has a long way to go. In terms of delivering long and meaningful lives within the Earth’s environmental limits - all nations could do better. No country achieves an overall ‘high’ score on the Index, and no country does well on all three indicators.
No single country listed in the Happy Planet Index has everything right. We have to acknowledge from the start that while some countries are more efficient than others at delivering long, happy lives for their people, every country has its problems and no country performs as well as it could. Yet, fascinatingly, it is possible to see patterns emerging that point to how we might better achieve long and happy lives for all, whilst living within our environmental means.
The challenge will be whether we can learn the lessons of the HPI and apply them.

http://www.happyplanetindex.org/map.htm

50 New Species Discovered in Papua New Guinea - Photos of Jumping Spiders Frogs and Geckos - thedailygreen.com

50 New Species Discovered in Papua New Guinea - Photos of Jumping Spiders Frogs and Geckos - thedailygreen.com

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Wee Wigglers at the Calgary Zoo

Calgary Zoo offers a very interesting program for toddlers called Wee Wigglers. It is not very popular yet. As they had to cancel one of the programs (The Bird one) because there were not enough people interested. But the one Leandro loved the most, was the Insect one. If you know Leandro, you probably know he LOVES bugs! That is right! He LOVES bugs! That day, he got to see a giant millipede.
Wee Wigglers:
Bring your 18 month – 5 year old child for a special visit with some of the coolest animals at the Zoo. Children will get up close and personal with small handleable animals and animal artifacts in a private classroom setting. Everyone can approach and explore at their own pace no matter their age or knowledge level. For these sessions - up to two children per adult is permitted and all children attending must be at least 18 months old. Ticket price does not include gate admission.

You're on Good Company

Another cat, for our cat
from the book 'Cat for Dummies' page 275:
"In addition to the change in human lifestyles, many cats live a life unimagined even a few decades ago: They spend their entire lives inside.
Although this change has resulted in cats who live longer, healthier lives on average than their free-roaming relatives. It also leaves some cats unhappy. And the stress of being unhappy can show up in different ways, including illness and behavior problems. One of the best gifts you can give your indoor cat is the companionship of another cat.
Although not all cats seem interested in sharing, and the introductory period may be rocky, if your cat is alone fo long streches of time, chances are that she'll benefit from having another cat around."

One Week

Why don't friends with kids have time?

I really liked this article although it was found in one of my acquaintances on Facebook. (Sorry S for taking this out of your album). But it is so much thruth that I needed to post in into my Blog. I find myself so guilty sometimes for not being able to find time to old friends and girlfriends. Specailly when I am trying to juggle both, work and child, at the same time. Of course, child will always come first! No matter what! But I've been there too. I thought the same thing of my friends with kids before having one of my own. But no matter how much you plan and prepare, it is really hard to understand what is really like having a child and how much life as you used to know just changes 180 degrees. Good article neverthless!

Miss Nikkei Rio Grande do Sul 2008

My cousin, Luciana Hikari Kuamoto has won the title of Miss Nikkei RS 2008. Miss Nikkei beauty contest was held in Porto Alegre. I am really proud of my 20 year old cousin. She is not just beautiful but a very sweet and smart lady.
Also, various festivities and events celebrating 100 years of Japanese immigration in Brazil were taking place in different parts of the country throughout the year. The week around June 18, the date when the Kasato Maru docked at the port of Santos in 1908, packs up some of the year's highlights.
On June 18 1908, the first Japanese immigrants arrived in Brazil, aboard the Kasato Maru. A new era was about to start for Brazilian culture and ethnicity, but permanence was not first and foremost in the mind of the newly arrived workers who had responded to the appeal of a Japan-Brazil immigration agreement. Most of them had imagined their trip as a temporary endeavor – a way to achieve prosperity before returning to their native country.

aso kumamoto from yasu4920 on Vimeo.

Feeling quite nostalgic of the time I was in Japan. This is a scene of the volcano area of Aso in Kuamoto. The Japanese islands are laced with volcanoes, some thunderously active and others not. Of these, the majestic -- and dormant -- Mt. Fuji draws by far the most attention. Yet, an hour and a half by plane south of Tokyo lies another volcano that has been too long removed from the eyes of foreign tourists.

Mt. Aso sits in the center of Japan's southern island of Kyushu and is merely this: the largest volcano on earth!

Aso's volcanic rim stretches 128 km in circumference, and it was here that the island of Kyushu first bubbled up from the sea. The gigantic crater has been dead since time immemorial, but inside stand several other volcanic peaks, one of which is still very alive.