Don't miss this ~ How to make the most of your produce

I need to be reminded constantly about how to care for - and also remember to eat - my weekly produce haul from West Seattle Farmers Market. There are some great tips in this short article.

Shoot, I even have a bunch of rainbow chard in my fridge drawer. And not wrapped in paper towel the way it should be.

Read Making the most of your produce (Seattle Times)



Photo: ERIKA SCHULTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Rainbow chard can be wrapped in paper towels for longer keeping.

A photo tour of our new park!

One of the best green spaces of the newly redeveloped High Point neighborhood in West Seattle is Commons Park (what we call it), or "The Commons" (as SHA refers to it on its web site). The park, an approx. 3 acre green jewel in what will be about the geographic center of the new neighborhood when it is complete, had its grand opening bash on the 4th of July complete with a massive community BBQ and potluck, face painting, musical entertainment, volley ball and other sports, with hundreds of people attending.

I prefer my green spaces in the company of my dog and some quiet, and that can be had as well, as you will see from the photo tour now loaded up on my associated Green Spaces meetup site. It is amazing how often you can be totally alone in a neighborhood full of hundreds of people. Put on your iPod and take the dog for a stroll with me...

Enjoy the Commons Park Photo Tour.

REMEMBER: Clicking on the photo here will load a larger version. From the top of the viewing mound you can see the top of the Seattle Space Needle, and also the top of the Columbia Tower at 5th and Columbia (where my husband and I were married in 1997).

RELATED CONTENT
Read The Commons is High Point's newest park
Other High Point redevelopment news

Don't miss this ~ "It takes a less-is-more attitude to embrace smaller houses"

Fantastic commentary/article by the EcoConsumer, Tom Watson, in the Times this weekend. We "downsized" from an older home on a 1/4 acre into an attached townhome "condo style". Our geographic footprint is much smaller, altho our home size is about the same (1,700 sq ft approx) - by going from 2 stories to 3. We even gained a 2 car garage, which we never had and would never have been able to afford to build (and didn't agree with adding nonpervious area to our property, so would have built in a green roof)).

I know I couldn't live in 800 sq ft with MY husband, but we're still pretty proud of the changes we have made so far. Here is a photo of the street-side presentation of our townhome - only 2 stories, so it is not as dominating of the landscape. The 3rd story is below ground and accessed from the back of the home, and has a garage, flex space and storage room.

Read It takes a less-is-more attitude to embrace smaller houses

Time for some campaignin!

I had a little fun with Jib Jab's new movie. Look for me towards the end!

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

"Birds" music

The music to the Washington Lottery ad "Every bird should get to fly" really caught my attention. Other people's as well, and on YouTube someone answered the question, who created the music?

This is from the composer's MySpace page. His name is Rob Simonsen.

About Rob Simonsen
Since his first foray into film with the orchestral score for the indie feature Westender (2003), which won praises of "...unusually rich" (Variety), "resonant" (Combustible Celluloid), "vibrant and powerful" (dvdtalk.com), Rob Simonsen has written and worked on the scores for numerous Hollywood films. From quirky, Sundance award-winning films to major studio releases, Rob's writing range has spanned from small, eclectic ensembles to full 85-piece orchestras with choir.

It was the premiere of Westender at the 2003 Seattle International Film Festival where Rob met and befriended Mychael Danna. A year later, both of them relocated from their respective homes to Los Angeles, and Rob began orchestrating, composing, and producing music with Mychael and on his own. Since then he has gained experience working on such titles as Little Miss Sunshine, Capote, Surf's Up, Fracture, Breach, The Nativity Story, Eve and the Fire Horse, Lonely Hearts, and Fox Television's New Amsterdam, among others.

Rob lives in Los Angeles, and works out of the Awesome Power Worldwide Inc. Studios in Hollywood.

Every bird should get to fly

Ever since first seeing this ad for the Washington Lottery I have fallen in love with the music, the cinematography, and the entire concept that every bird SHOULD get a chance to fly. I don't play the lottery, and this ad still hasn't convinced me to contribute to the "idiot tax" as my dad refers to it, but I still love this 60 second story. Enjoy!