Italy

One of my goals is to visit Italy after I graduate from college. The country is filled with cultural and historical treasures just waiting to enlighten the knowledge and curosity.

The idea of walking through the ancient ruins of the Roman Forum, the Coliseum or the city of Pompeii, then marvel at the masterpieces of Michelangelo, Rafael and DaVinci will culturally highlight the experience!


Trevi Fountain, Rome, Italy


Calabria,Italy


The Roman Forum in Rome, Italy


Roman ruins


The Vatican

The Brain: Our Sense of Self

“I think, therefore I am.” —René Descartes, 17th-century philosopher

Few of us question the crucial importance of the brain. It is vital to our existence. Our brains enable us to think, as René Descartes so skillfully pointed out nearly 400 years ago. Yet the human brain is responsible for so much more. It directs almost everything we do. It controls our voluntary movements, and it regulates involuntary activities such as breathing and heartbeat. The brain serves as the seat of human consciousness: it stores our memories, allows us to feel emotions, and gives us our personalities.

The brain makes up only 2 percent of our body weight, but it consumes 20 percent of the oxygen we breathe and 20 percent of the energy we consume. This enormous consumption of oxygen and energy fuels many thousands of chemical reactions in the
brain every second. These chemical reactions underlie the actions and behaviors we use to respond to our environment. In short, the brain dictates the behaviors that allow us to survive.

Scientists have worked for many years to unravel the complex workings of the brain. Their research efforts have greatly improved our understanding of brain function. During the past decade alone, scientific and technical progress in all fields of brain research has been astonishing. Using new imaging techniques, scientists can visualize the human brain in action. Images produced by these techniques have defined brain regions responsible for attention, memory, and emotion. A series of discoveries (in multiple fields of study) has displaced the long-standing assumption that brain cells are stable and unchanging. Amazingly, new findings show that some adult brain cells can divide and grow! In addition, advances in research are allowing scientists to analyze and make progress toward understanding the causes of inherited brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Taken together, these discoveries provide hope for the recovery of nervous system function lost through injury or disease.

Despite these and other significant advances in the field of brain research, most of the processes responsible for the integrated functioning of billions of brain cells remain a mystery. Research on the brain in the new millennium is crucial to our effort to come to a complete understanding of this fascinating organ. In turn, improved understanding makes the development of new treatment options possible. Research continues to bring new insights into how the brain is put together, how it works, and whether damage to the brain can be reversed.

An essential aspect of any scientific research is communicating results to the public in a way that is easily understood. The American public has the opportunity to learn of new research findings about the brain regularly through media reports of scientific breakthroughs and discoveries. However, not all the information we receive is accurate. Commercial products promoted through television advertisements claim to improve memory, enhance concentration, or relieve depression, among other things. The media may oversimplify research findings into a “sound clip” open to misinterpretation. In addition, movies, television shows, and the World Wide Web often contain inaccuracies in their portrayal of research findings about brain structure or function.

To correctly interpret the information transmitted through these venues, we need a better understanding of basic concepts related to the brain. By providing students with a conceptual framework about the brain, we significantly increase our chances of producing an informed public that has the tools to interpret brain research findings. Accordingly, it is the goal of this supplement to provide teachers and students with correct information regarding the brain, its role in the nervous system, and how it provides us with our sense of self.

Pictures are words

MOMO comes to New York from the foggy San Francisco Bay, by way of 12 mostly adventurous years in southern climes; Jamaica, Spain, New Orleans, Key West, Taos, Georgia and North Carolina, living in tents, caves, cars, and sheds. There was a geodesic dome home, and railroad chalet, and some times with an older seductress in Arizona, the place in the Vieux Carrie had no locks on the doors and "The Believery" warehouse had no doors. MOMO has been outside most of his life. He's also been completely obsessed with art making. Which is how it makes sense he arrived at street art.

After years of admiring graffiti, he finally tried painting freight trains in 1998 along high mountain passes in Montana. Prior to that he stayed inside a sketchbook. The next 3 years aren't so inventive - just translating sketchbook to aerosol, or gluing enlarged drawings to walls, though in 1999 he was sneaking photographs of locals and illustrating giant posters with their likeness' to celebrate them unilaterally. In 2002 the interest in Naturalism finished with cheery, life-size children cutout posters, addressing the national gloom that followed 9-11. But from there, Naturalism went with the need to pander to general audiences, as MOMO fell out of step with his country on its march to war. Now his art could be anything.

Judith Supine is my idol

Judith Supine is a 29-year-old artist living in Brooklyn, NY. Supine could not speak until a month after his seventeenth birthday. He could not physically articulate words, he could only squeak and grunt. Supine often drew pictures to communicate with his family. His mom saved all of his pictures, just one of many reasons why his mom is great.

Judith Supine uses materials that are free or at least real cheap. He uses an exacto-knife, glue sticks, cheap ugly paints and real sleazy magazines that make him sexually uncomfortable. Judith Supine gets his magazines out of people's trash, from the public library, from the dentist's offices, from his little sister's magazine collection, from bankrupt porn shops.

Artful Blogging

Wallpaper

Decorating is a creative outlet for me. It has become a passion that I throughly enjoy!


Lloyd Wallpaper



Josette Wallpaper



Oriental Garden Wallpaper



Toile Wallpaper

Vintage Design

Decorating Your Bedroom With a Vintage Design

Looking for a different bedroom decorating idea that will add unique charm to your room? Here are some ideas on using vintage linens for a unique and nostalgic bedroom appeal.

There's nothing that adds a more unique appeal to any decorating theme then using vintage items and one great bedroom decorating idea- to decorate your bedroom using vintage linens. These pieces from days gone bye have a charm that you really don't find in soft goods today and are easy to find and fairly affordable.


This girl's bedroom, fit for a little princess, features fairytale furnishings and pinch-pleated curtains made out of pretty pink and white fabric from Chiltern Mills. A miniature crystal chandelier completes this fantasy theme.



Vintage bedroom
For a fresh vintage look in your bedroom, mix white-painted furniture, like this chest of drawers from Laura Ashley and vintage-style floral patterned accessories. The clean white walls are a perfect contrast with the curtain fabric from Luna.



Feminine boudoir
Bring together one eye-catching floral wall, white-painted exposed brickwork walls, wooden floorboards and doors and keep the subtly going with white vintage furniture pieces. Sharpen the girliness with grown-up glamour pieces such as this striking vintage mirror and dress-maker's mannequin. Keep an eye out for other vintage finds to make your space an ever-evolving treasure trove.



Dainty bedroom
The classic design of chinoiserie has a trailing flower pattern, and has been used to great effect on this Laura Ashley wallpaper. The design is also very effective on the mirror design. Team it with fresh linen and pretty pastel coloured furniture.



Vintage needlework bedroom
Antique styles of needlework in ivory, leaf and rose with subtle French knots and pintucks for texture create a pretty room. Pink walls, a patterned floral rug from The Rug Company, Leporello canopied bed and French-style furniture add romance. A Mark Maynard armoire provides elegant storage, a chandelier and gilded mirror are glamorous touches.



On one wall of the master bedroom, a painted antique dresser pairs with petite French chair.



Furniture that girls of any age can appreciate: a large over-stuffed chair and ottoman for lounging and a vanity table for primping and prepping.



Both the shower curtain and gathered skirt utilize traditional toile, but in a bold choice of color. A flat sheet, sized for a single bed, makes a great shower curtain.

Philippines through my eyes

This photo always strikes me as one of my favorites. I look at her and begin to wonder how much do we need to help these children.



Majority of the people here are poor. This is about 3 blocks away from where we stayed in laloma, Quezon City.



I asked the kid in the headband,"why are you always posing like a rapper?" His answer, "because I saw it on t.v. and it's in."
Even mass media reaches 3rd world countries.



Through the gates there is always hope!

Paradise!

Taken in a tropical island of Mauritius, south west of the Indian Ocean.

Kasaysayan: A page from the past

The Philippine archipelago is made up of approximately 7,100 islands. Ever since the beginning of time it has always been at the crossroads of diverse civilizations. Negritoes, or Aytas, along with the Malays and Indonesians have been there since pre-historic times. Chinese, Arab and Hindu traders also frequently visited these islands. Many came to stay. All of these traditions imprinted their ways, culture and religions upon the people.

The Islamic religion and culture found its way to the Philippines around 1300 A.D. The "Western" influenced first came when the Spainards colonized the archipelago for over 300 years, beginning in 1565. Then the Americans in 1898 tried their hand in colonizing the Filipinos. The Japanese could only stay a short three years. 1942-1945, in their attempt to subjugate.

However, the native Filipinos never acquiesced to any form of foreign domination. A seafaring, freedom-loving people, liberty, self-government in their communities, and close family ties were trademarks of their lifeways. From day one, when Lapu-lapu and his warriors killed the Western invader and would be colonized Magellan in 1521, the Filipinos always resisted any attempt by strangers to usurp their precious sovereignty.

During the long Spanish period of colonization and abuse, the Filipinos recorded no less than over 200 revolts and uprisings. The history of the Philippines is a history of protest and resistance to foreign rule. But it would not be until 1896, the year of the Philippine Revolution against Spain, that the Filipinos would see themselves as one nation, one people, with one destiny.

The times that brought about this sentiment was the propaganda era of the latter half of the nineteenth century, when the intellectuals and ilustrados of Philippine society wrote and clamored for reforms, most of them traveling to Spain for their protests. The man who was most instrumental in bringing about this awakening of nationhood as Jose Rizal, a brilliant genius who, among other things, wrote two novels that sparked the flames of the inevitable revolution.

Through Rizal was only for reform within the system, it took the efforts of another man to convince the Filipinos that the time of peaceful protests and reforms within the government was over. It was time for armed revolt and separation from Mother Spain. His name was Andres Bonifacio. It was he who organized the Katipunan, the secret and core of society that launched the Revolution. The Katipunan was no longer a group of elite intellectuals. It was an organization whose base was the Filipino masses themselves. They finally overthrew the Spanish government in 1898.

It was the same year that the American arrived in the Philippines. It was now their turn to possess the Philippines. Again, the Filipinos fought. This time it was for their independence. And this time, their leader was Emilio Aguinaldo. By 1898, the Filipino people had declared independence, written a national constitution, created an army, and elected officers for their newly formed goverment, the first republic in the history of all Asia. The American occupied and colonized the Philippines for fifty years. The Filipinos, including the never vanquished indigenous peoples and Muslims, also fought this domination fiercely and continuously, til independence finally came in 1946, after repelling the Japanese, who rules the Philippines between 1942-1945.

The story of the Filipinos is a story of the struggle for sovereignty, dignity, respect as a people, and reclamation of their heritage and birthright, which is what all peoples of the world desire and deserve.

By: Oscar Penaranda

Ensenada Pictures! More to come!

This is Mango Mango! Here we all enjoyed a wonderful lunch and a bucket filled with tecate beers for ONLY $25.



This is what I had for lunch, fish tacos! I know it may look like your typical food from Chevy's Fresh Mix. But trust me, it was way better!



One of the major roads running through Ensenada, a view of some of the businesses on the northeast side of the street.



More of the local tourism trade - street corner vendors setting up for the day to try and sell their wares to two ship loads of tourists in the city this day. Notice another pharmacy sign back right.



Some of the locals preparing for their day with a clean pair of shoes. A street scene from Ensenada, Mexico.



Looking down Lopez Mateos as a shortened VW bug turns the corner. More folks are beginning to get into town from the Carnival cruise ship in port.



The locals grabbing breakfast at one of the street front eateries near the fish market in Ensenada, Mexico.



One of the more saddening aspects of the tourist business in Ensenada. Many many children are wondering around with trays of trinkets - there's enough of them to make me think it's some kind of organized effort.
Processed to highlight the young girl plying the streets



This is where all the fun happens!



Tecate!



And more Tecate!



The volleyball court at Papas and Beer.



This is the Carnival Cruise ship!

A Taste of Mexico!

What better way to enjoy your day then on a cruise heading south along the spectacular coastline to Ensenda, Mexico? Here you will visit the charming seaside town of Ensenada and some of the cultural highlights it has to offer!

Ensenada is a genuine Mexican city that has not totally succumbed to the trappings of tourism. Enjoy a brief, yet enlighting look at Ensenada's downtown and residential areas. The first stop is Riviera Del Pacifico, a glamorous resort and casino during the roaring 20's and renowned for its Mexican architecture and famous clientele. Enjoy the town's splendid surroundings while sipping a complimentary Margarita. The Bodegas de Santo Tomas is your next stop where you will visit the oldest winery in Mexico and taste its famous wines. Finally, browse around at the open air market for shopping.

My nautical journey began when my cruise departed from Long Beach, Ca and drifted into the amazing waters of the Pacific. The ecological adventure was a unique opportunity to explore a nature preserve and witness the release of baby turtles into the sea. Afterwards, I enjoyed myself on a cushioned deck with a complimentary beverage and took in the endless sky and sea until I finally reached my destination.

Upon my arrival, a motor coach whisked my friends and I away to the center of Ensenada where we took a guided walking tour of this charming resort town. We strolled along the malecon (the main boardwalk), Flag Plaza, Ventana al mar and saw the beautiful yachts. On the main road, we reboarded with our motor coach and moved on to the cooking lessons at a local restaurant. This is where the chef will tantalize your palate with authentic Mexican fare that you will learn to prepare yourself.

Afterwards, we headed out to La Bufadora, one of Ensenada's most famous and spectacular attractions. Here we gained insight into Ensenada's history and its surrounding areas. We all enjoyed a close look at the picturesque Plaza Civica and its statues of famous Mexican heroes. Our tour continued on to the Papas and Beer Beach Getaway and the Mango Mango at the Rosarito.

If you want to know of a place to party in Ensenda, Papas and Beer and Mango Mango is definite place you'd want to visit because nothing beats some fun in the sun at a beach club! Upon our arrival at the beach club, we were greeted with a complimentary welcome drink and over 45,000 square feet of white sand, but most importantly, countless bars. This is where a bartender turned me upside down and poured tequila slammers in my mouth! My friends and I had such an AWESOME experience we'd all agreed to doing it again!

Finally, our last stop was to the city's main shopping district for a wide variety of Mexican handicrafts and fine imported merchandise.