A Break at the Beach

On Tuesday, we took and afternoon and evening break down at the beach near Malibu. First, we had dinner at Neptune's Net, just over the line into Ventura County and then strolled along this section of beach just opposite the restaurant.

Click for larger images

What I'm reading...Rules of Thumb by Alan M. Webber

What are you reading? Share your favorite books with Career Opportunities readers and listeners. Add your comment today!

Yet another interesting find via my Amazon recommendations. This book is giving me a lot of food for thought. I have found myself makings lots of notes in my journal, not necessarily about the book, but great ideas and thoughts it is bringing to mind. While "Rules of Thumb" is ostensibly about business, the "rules" apply to life and other pursuits in many ways.

Highly Recommended

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John Braheny presents to NSAI

Songwriting expert John Braheny presents to the Nashville Songwriters Association International meeting in San Marino, California

John Braheny presents to NSAI

Songwriting expert John Braheny presents to the Nashville Songwriters Association International meeting in San Marino, California

DVD: The Dish (2001) - A nice, gentle character study

Our friend Michael is always a great source of interesting and quirky films and "The Dish" is certainly one of them. It is a gentle character study based around the crew of the Parkes Radio Telescope at the time of the Apollo 11 moon landing. While they face minor adversity, it is the characters that are the star here. I would certainly watch "The Dish" again and I recommend it to others...like I am doing here. (SMILE)

Some other overlooked (and usually mis-marketed) movies that we like include:

Leap of Faith
My Blue Heaven
Undercover Blues

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ANNOUNCING THE JUMPSTART SESSIONS WITH DOUGLAS E. WELCH

Douglas E. Welch will be starting a new series of small group, intensive classes on a variety of New Media topics including:

* Getting started with Twitter
* Getting started with Podcasting
* Live Video Streaming of your meetings and shows
* Audio recording and editing with Garageband
* Video recording and editing with the Flip Video camera
…and many more!

Each class is limited to a maximum of 10 students and runs 2 hours.

Jumpstart classes are designed to do just that, Jumpstart your knowledge and use of a each technology.

Douglas will help you set up your own user accounts, profile pictures, blogs and more so that you can leap into using these tools the very next day

More info and 3 question survey

Unintentional Entrepreneurs event at Blankspaces

Starting with a presentation on an online bookkeeping service.

Google transit makes LA public transit easier

Now that the MTA has placed their info into Google Transit, getting around by public transit has gotten a lot easier here in LA.

Tomorrow, I need to head down near MacArthur Park. A quick check of Google Transit gives me all I need, including departure and arrival times and even walking directions at the beginning and end of my trip.

While I could have probably figured out this trip by myself, using printed schedules and maps from MTA's site, Google makes it simple and puts it into an interface I am already used to for driving directions.

If you live in LA, or are visiting, give Google Transit (and public transit) a try.

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Macaroni (actually farfalle) and cheese for dinner tonight

Using up left over cheeses in the fridge tonight in one of our favorite dishes. in this pot it is mainly cheddar with a bit of Old Amsterdam, fontina, American and parmaggiano. Each batch is a little bit different depending on the cheeses.

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Risotto con salsicce

The Chef's Stove-side beverage of choice

Of course, if you are going to be standing over a hot stove stirring your risotto, it is important to have a cold beverage at hand. Tonight's choice is a Pyramid Haywire Hefeweizen with a slice of orange, instead of the traditional lemon.

Sausage Risotto and asparagus

Even with the heat (currently 95 F) we decided to make one of our favorites, Sausage risotto, from the Cucina Rustica cookbook. Rosanne is making some grilled asparagus on the side for her. Much in the same we had to
ignore the rain in Ohio, here in LA you just have to ignore the heat and make what you want. Of course, a summer kitchen would help, too.

Risotto gets a bad rap for being difficult and time consuming, but it is really fairy easy to make.

Rosanne made the homemade chicken stock for the recipe and I was able to use the leftovers of my latest batch of red sauce, which I make every couple of weeks. It is a required pantry item when you have a Sicilian in the house, you know.

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At the beach in Santa Monica

What I'm Reading...The Simple Home

Architecture, design and decorating books often catch my eye when I am browsing the bookstore or my Amazon recommendations.

I am not into any sort of high style, but I do appreciate these photos of simple and beautiful places. I nearly always find great ideas to implement in my own home.

The Simple Home: The Luxury of Enough by Sarah Nettleton

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LA Friday Coffer people #lafc

Gelato, Espresso, Pane #lafc

Gelato at LA Friday Coffee #lafc

LA Friday Coffee #lafc at Gelato Bar

LA Friday Coffee #lafc at Gelato Bar

Dinner at Santa Barbara Harbor

Dinner at the harbor

A nice breeze rustles the flags

Jonathan?

Joining us for drinks :)

Santa Barbara Harbor and Mountains

Italian Pottery Outlet

Oreana Winery Tasting

Checking out a (new to us) Winery in Santa Barbara

What I'm Reading...ThinkerToys by Michael Michalko

This is another one of my recent library pickups. I took this on our recent trip to Ohio to have an excuse to do a little more thinking while we were gone.

ThinkerToys is chock full of excellent ideas on how to boost, direct and focus you thinking for better results, whether for life or business. By having so many different methods in one book, you can pick and choose between those tactics that work best for you.

You can find more "What I'm Reading..." books and more in the WelchWrite Bookstore.

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Ohio Sky - Bedford, Ohio

Enjoying our last full day in Ohio by sitting out in the garden talking with friends and watching the dogs run.

My mind is already turning back to things we have to do once we return. That is always the hard part of any vacation.

I have lots of plans for some changes in my work and life over the next couple of months. I hope I can make them work.

Hospital where I was born

Kitties in a downtown window

Historic Buildings - Bedford, Ohio

Painted Lady - Bedford, Ohio

Brook and Joe

Visiting the Russo Family in Garfield Heights

Ohio-Erie Canal Demo

Ohio and Erie Canal Model and demo

Gabby at the Market

West Side Market - Cleveland, Ohio

Out with friends wandering the historic West Side Market near cowtown Cleveland

Comfort Station

Our friend's house in Bedford, OH

Our friends, Jimmy and Karen and their kids, Chandler and Gabby are so nice to host us while we are in town. They have also visited us in California twice now, I think.

Forest Sunset 2

This lovely section of woods bordered the ball field where we were watching our friend's son play his Little League game. There was a cold wind blowing as the
sun went down, but I caught these shots at "golden time" with my iPhone. Now to warm up with some coffee.

Forest Sunset

With my wife's family

With my wife's family

Libby and Logan

With the wife's family

Hermes Winery Tasting Room

Hermes Winery Tasting Room

Hermes Winery Tasting Room

Bloomingville Settlement 02

Bloomingville Settlement 1

Amber Waves 2

amber waves of grain

Painted Lady

Built 1850

Jay Cooke Historical Marker - Sandusky, OH

Video: Tubing on Sandusky Bay - Sandusky, OH

We had a great time on the bay yesterday afternoon, thanks to Larry, LIsa, Larry III and Jamie.

Joseph was smiling bigger than I have ever seen after this.

Larry and Jamie

Sunset on Sandusky Bay

Off Cedar Point

Rollercoasters in the background

Ohio Sky

Larry at the helm

Tubing on Sandusky Bay

Rosanne and Larry on the boat

On Sandusky Bay

A boy and his sister's dog :)

Tired after a long morning at the hospital

Bob Evans Biscuits. Yum!

St. Peter and Paul's Catholic Church

History - Knute Rockne Wedding

Chocolate Shop - Sandusky, OH

Lovely chocolate shop - Sandusky, OH

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