When was the last time you did something for the first time?

Seth Godin keeps asking me to poke the box. I am not too sure if this qualifies, but I have been wanting to learn how to post a video on YouTube.

Yesterday was an absolutely fabulous day in the neighborhood, so we seized the day with an impromptu BBQ and some Chard. I shot a little VID of my favorite guy, RK and successfully uploaded it to YouTube (turns out to be pretty darn easy) a few minutes ago. What do you think Seth, does this count?

Heiloo Harvest -Haarlem Harvest

Tender leaves from our garden- destined for an omelette

As I re-potted my new tomato plant, these little guys fell off-they are now ripening happily on my window sill

Chello (Iranian style rice)

This recipe is for my fellow foodie and vegetarian extraordinaire , Ms. Monique Rijks-Surette

Chello (Iranian style rice)

Ingredients:

· ½ cup per person of high quality Basmati rice, long-grain and fragrant

· Salt

· ½ cup neutral oil (sunflower is nice)

· butter

Tools:

· a large pot

· colander

Procedure:

· Soak rice in large pot with water and plenty of salt for a few hours

· Drain water and rinse rice

· Fill pot with fresh and boil the rice until it is just one degree softer than al dente

· Drain rice into colander and rinse with fresh water

· Heat oil (it seems like a lot, but it is important for the creation of Tah-diq, the crunchy part) in a heavy-bottomed pot making sure to coat the sides of the pot up about 2 or 3 inches ( Note: if you use the same pot, be sure to wash and dry it very thoroughly)

· When the oil is hot, spoon the rice into a volcano shape in the pot and poke 3 or 4 holes (about an inch in diameter) in the rice

· Pour a tablespoon of water into each hole and place several pats of butter on top of the rice

· Place a clean dishcloth (paper towels also work, careful with gas burners as they can catch on fire) and place the lid on top

· Steam the rice on medium-low heat for about 45 minutes until you see that the cloth is soaked with water and the pot passes the spit test (when a moist finger causes a sizzle at the top of the pot)

· This is the tricky part, flip the whole pot upside down on a large platter so that the Tahdiq is on top

Serve and enjoy with friends!

My Hero! Another Guy Who is Doing it

With a name like Reinhardt Smit you'd expect this guy to do something big, like abolish world hunger, suspend global warming or annihlate cancer. Well that is just what he is doing- 5K at a time.

Last Sunday , I had the privilege of joining Reinhhardt and his crew for the inaugural race for the launch of Run for Them, a hip new nonprofit organization for racers in the Netherlands. RTF matches runners with their favorite charities and makes giving a breeze.

Please check out his website at http://www.runforthem.org, lend your support and , if you are a runner, take the survey.

Spring is finally here

My Hero- A Guy Who is Doing it

Last December, during my mini-retirement to the USA, on the Chicago leg of the trip, I met an energetic young man named Andrew Newton. Andrew is a friend of my daughter Yassi and upon meeting, we realized that we had a couple things in common. It turns out that Andrew, age 23, and I, 23 + 24 years of experience, were equally fascinated by Tim Ferriss and his book the Four Hour Workweek.

I had picked up the book a few weeks earlier in NYC and Andrew, it turned out was already experimenting with and implementing some of Tim's ideas. Well, to make a long story short, while I have just been daydreaming about a FHWW life, Andrew is making it happen. He is now in the first phase of building an online tea business. He is a real-life example of someone turning his passion into a profit making venture.

Kudos, Andrew! I have no doubt you will be a huge success.

The Best Things in Life

Everyman must decide for herself what matters, the meaning of life is found in this matter.

If you ask yourself, "what's the matter, baby?" You should consider the following:

The World's Best Margarita can be found at http://www.lapalapa.com/

She's on to Something

Greetings Fans!

Today, I would like to introduce to you a very funny and humorously useful blog that I happened upon recently.

In the last few days, I have been accused of being silly (not naming names, Sahar). I have just one thing to say in my defense-I'm not the only one!

But seriously, sometimes silly has a point

Check out my new BFF-Laura Belgray and her great blog, talkingshrimp.com

What's the Point?

Many of you by now are wondering, what this blog is about?

That is a good question.

While it might not make sense to the casual observer with its pictures of canals, cats in drawers and recipes for beans, the truth is, this blog is magical. Just ask this goat, Nikki.

AWIH is a montage of useful, meaningful, beautiful & sometimes ridiculous things and ideas. It has a life of its own.

The point is there is no point.

Then why do I bother with this pointless blog? Because I can (and it tells me to).

Stay tuned & see what develops.

Pathetic Ploy for Attention

Photo courtesy of Rebecca Hurst

One of my Dutch Pleasures

I want that dinosaur sticker!

I owe the Do It club, my personal and very awesome accountability group, a blog post. My post was supposed to be about cheating and the five things I learned while doing it (cheating). It is a long story and a very good one, which I will hopefully complete in the next few days, but, rather than surrender to procrastination or worse, perfectionism, I decided to wing it-Blog Style.

Look what I found while I was looking for that thing I couldn't find (the Word doc about cheating), electronic scraps that I don't remember writing, a part of the Project 575 that was supposed to ship a year ago-

The Unshipped Messages

575.1

defused sunshine

tiny buds on orchid's branch

a snail awakens

575.2

Ladybird landing

the duck eluding the drake

love blankets the earth

575.3

shadows lengthening

awakening sea of gold

earth's fascia alerts

575.4

to the sea's sunset

feminine set in motion

doe off her path

575.5

the back garden soil

spring eludes the two of us

a labor of love

575.6

uncovered earth

cats eying birds eying worms

lenten's plan emerging

575.7

the brink of spring's bliss

snow again covering the earth

purple shoots rise

575.8

the river flowing

swans cannot now remember

a hard winter's day

575.9

Our enriched soil

the wind resisting each shoot

narcissus rising

575.10

white and purple blooms

the earth launches her signal

crocus persists

575.11

an early greeting

the stretch of lush nothingness

lambs in a green field

575.12

warm glow of waking

plenty of day to wander

bird sings in the tree

575.13 ( for Earl)

in the bloom a breath

the question is the answer

creation exhales