Got Blackle?

A few months ago, TreeHugger Mark Ontkush wrote a post on his blog EcoIron entitled "Black Google Would Save 750 Megawatt-hours a Year." The post lays out the following train of thought: “An all white Web page uses about 74 watts to display, while an all black page uses only 59 watts.” Google, which has a white background and gets about “200 million queries a day” could reduce global energy use by 750 Megawatt-hours a year by simply changing the color of its homepage to black.

In response to this post, a black version of Google emerged called Blackle.com. According to Blackle’s homepage at publication time, 137,774.672 Watt hours have been saved. The site encourages users to “make a difference today" by 'Blackling' or visiting TreenHugger.com, a blog dedicated to environmental awareness.

It looks like Google has its own version now too at:

Black-google.blogspot.com.

Star Wars Postage Stamp

I'm probably the only computer professional who hasn't seen this movie, but I was raised Mennonite and we were not allowed to see movies. I should really rent this! I do, however, own a few of these awesome stamp sheets! Run out and get your own while they last, at a U.S. Post Office near you!

Just Another Day In New York City?

Just another day in New York City? Yeah right, fat chance. Ain't no such thang, and I've got the photos to prove it.

As I'm walking back from Central Park on Fifth avenue, mixed in with a sea of shoppers with their Gucci, Chanel and Tiffany bags, I try not to stare. Any seasoned New Yorker knows to try to conceal the fact that we can't believe what we're seeing!



But up ahead of me, I notice this really colorful dude. OK, I've seen guys with stuffed parrots on their shoulders or hats, they're just wanna-be pirates, no big deal. As I get a little closer, all of a sudden the parrot starts talking to me.



So as I'm passing him, I just have to get a photograph. I managed to keep walking, and I don't even think he noticed me, so my cool, I'm-a-New-Yorker-cover, was never blown. The funniest thing that happened was when I started walking past his baby carriage and snuck a peek, there was no human baby in that carriage, but instead a miniature poodle dressed up like one. Dude! Check it out, kinda reminds me of Abby Road, except he's going the wrong way!

Today while in Central Park, I took what I believe to be a few interesting photos.

Ahhh, the New York City Pigeon. Sister to the reveled Dove, yet scorned as the flying rat. No respect!

You know, I've lived in New York City almost 18 years, and I've seen numerous photos of this John Lennon memorial, but never knew it was in Central Park, or even New York for that matter. I always thought it was in London!

This guy is so young, he still has down all around his neck! I guess if you're a sparrow, that's kind of like Baby Fat!

What a difference a week makes. Don't worry, their mom is nearby!

What a lovely butterfly!

A Beautiful Great Egret.

Gotta look this one up, white belly, dark wings.

Skinny Book

This week at work I had a funny (sad?) conversation with someone. She mentioned that she really couldn't wait to go to lunch to buy some chocolate. Chocolate? For lunch? I was curious why she'd be drawn to chocolate for lunch, so I asked. She said, "It's cheap! And I can use my corporate discount!" "Ohhhh," I said. Then I stuck my foot out there a little more and told her, "You know, that's one of the worst things you can do to your body." She said she knew that, and in fact was currently reading a book that was causing her to consider becoming a vegan. I had to know what book, because I'm sitting there thinking, hmmm, maybe she's reading Michael Pollan or Nina Planck, but oh no, she was reading the newest book by Kim Barnouin & Rory Freedman! She said it wasn't about the animals that she'd go vegan (I cringed), but about the health of the vegan diet. OY!

I'd heard a little about that book and was now very curious. After devouring the entire "excerpt" from Amazon, I am planning to run, not walk, out to buy a copy. It looks like the most entertaining read since Sandra Bernhard was writting books. Go buy this Book!

Playing Tourist

I set out this morning to see what popped out at me, and here are the highlights:

First, I came across this ornately decorated bus (most likely on its way to the Siren Music Festival in Coney Island):

Then, I took a photo of the cube at Astor Place that I've walked past hundreds of times:

And then it was back up to Central Park to see how wild New York City really is:

It wasn't long before I saw this mother duck with her ducklings in tow.

Then, this mother turtle was digging a very large hole to drop her eggs into.

Did you know there was a castle in the middle of Central Park called Belvedere Castle? There was some sort of huge black bird (Heron?) on the rocks, splaying its wings in the sun, but I couldn't get a close enough photo.

I thought this "WATER" cover looked kind of cool.

These wild-flowers were really awesome.

There was a Red-Tailed Hawk being taunted by another bird, but it was very high in the sky, so I'm afraid you have to squint to see it here.

They don't call this Turtle Pond for nothing!

Came across a few Billy Goats in The Central Park Childrens Zoo.

Headed back downtown to Grace Church.

That's some fancy iron-work on those doors!

Visiting With Friends

This weekend, I visited my friends Jason and Leni in Connecticut. They have the cutest purple house I've ever seen! It dates back to the 1600's, and when they first bought it, it was a crumbling, falling down, heap of rubble. They restored the entire place by hand. Leni told me that they even re-glazed each individual window pane, so as to restore them to their original lustre. This process could take up to 8 hours per window.

Jason is in a rock band, and they played a concert in the center of town.

Leni collects McCoy pottery.

That Chester is one cool cat. And there's a memento to dear Ooz-Cat next to him.

Their friends had this adorable female Calico cat. Did you know that it is extremely rare to find a Calico cat that is not female? Yup, most Calico's are ladies.

Now that's Mennonite!

From there it was onto The Berkshires, where I visited my distant relatives, The Shakers.

What a lovely quilt!

The famous round barn.

This photo reminds me of one of my favorite paintings, The Peaceable Kingdom by Edward Hicks.

And here's a member of The Pittsfield Elms vintage baseball team. The baseballs were a little bigger back then, and the gloves had very little padding.

NYPD Police Athletic League

During the school year, I volunteer with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and their after-school kids program. I was looking for volunteer opportunities in technology, and had read they'd just opened a new computer lab. When I phoned to inquire if I might volunteer, I was told the computer lab was ready to go, but currently closed because they had no one to run it. Need I say more?

What I found, however, was once we got the digital center up-and-running, kids weren't necessarily asking questions about computers, they were needing help with algebra, writing, college and scholarship applications, and general homework assignments. Fortunately, I'd just purchased an algebra book of my own because I was growing concerned that I hadn't used those skills in a while and didn't want to lose them.

It is my experience that they teach me as much as I learn from them.

The Director of the center is really creative, and she came up with the idea for us to have the kids put together a newsletter. I helped them name the paper, and oversaw the layout and design, but my co-volunteer Pat and I really wanted this to be the handiwork of the kids themselves, and not some "Photoshopped" piece. Here's an excerpt from our most recent edition.

Here's a shot of Julio, the coach of the basketball team, and his players. One of the kids had taken some team photos for our newsletter and when Julio saw them, I could tell he was really excited. The next week, I surprised him with a couple really nice ones that I'd framed for him which he now displays in his trophy case at the PAL Center.