tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14384832691022066212024-03-12T19:49:40.759-07:00AlishaV's BlogThis blog is totally and completely random. Whatever I'm thinking or is going on at the moment, I put it. Totally unorganized, I know. I should pick one subject and write about that, but where's the fun in that?AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-43140140383250264012021-04-18T18:13:00.002-07:002021-04-18T18:13:32.283-07:00Hey, It's Me Again!<p> Hi there! So, it's been a hundred years since I used this blog and I've decided it's time to resurrect it. You know how it, you get busy, things fall by the wayside, and eventually it's been so long that you need a good excuse to make up for flaking. Nope, no good excuse here. Just a life happens sort of thing. I'm not consistent and that hasn't changed. That isn't to say I haven't been doing anything.</p><p>Since Squidoo was bought out by HubPages I haven't written much for article sites. I have articles up there that were transferred over and I added a few, but the site tends to get on my nerves and most of the time I don't think it's worth dealing with. Especially when I was making over $400 a month at Squidoo and with HubPages I'm lucky to hit payout each month, with even that earning going down each month.</p><p>My biggest articles are now getting the same amount of visitors in a month that they used to get in a day, and a lot of the articles have so little traffic HubPages won't feature them, making them into basically dead weight. Editing them and improving them would be nice, but each time I've tried to edit an article on the site it gets pinged and taken off the site until I take products, etc. off to conform to what they think Google wants. So, it's just not worth dealing with. If you want to check out what I still have up, click over to my HubPages' Profile: <a href="https://hubpages.com/@alishav">https://hubpages.com/@alishav</a></p><p>As a reader I love sharing when I find a fabulous book and warning against bad books, so I put together a book review blog. I don't post often and have been neglecting it lately, but that's because I have a tendency to get caught up in reading and don't take the time out to post a review. Bad Alisha! But books are so good...</p><p>The books I'm reading and reviewing now are primarily LGBT romance novels, with some fantasy and scifi books in there too. I adore PNR (Paranormal Romance) and UF (Urban Fantasy), but it can be hard to find enough of them with gay MCs. And it's even rarer to find ones with trans characters or poly. I read whatever I can find though. If you want to see what I'm reading (that I've managed to get around to reviewing), check out Romantic Notions: <a href="https://romance-book-reviews.blogspot.com/">https://romance-book-reviews.blogspot.com/</a></p><p>Loving books as I do, I also tried my hand at writing them during NaNoWriMo. I got a couple books written, but nothing that feels finished enough. I need to put some effort into them and get them done, but I mostly more ideas than energy. I won my trophy a couple years ago for completing my book, but I think it needs more filling out as it seems bland. Then the year before last I was feeling really lackluster and didn't finish, then this last year with the election and Covid there was no way I could settle down and get into the mood to write. A lot of my favorite authors seemed to feel the same way as even the most consistent ones were way behind release schedule.</p><p>Something fun, since my pets are cute and I have so many unusual ones, I made an Instagram of them. I was trying to post each day, but got sick and was down for a while, then haven't picked up since. And sadly, it was right in the middle of something I was having fun with, the 12 Pets of Christmas. If you like kitties and reptiles, hamsters and other critters, you may want to check it out. It's Awesome Animals with AlishaV or AAwAV <a href="https://www.instagram.com/awesome_animals_with_alishav/">@awesome_animals_with_alishav/</a></p><p>Speaking of Awesome Animals with AlishaV (cause I gotta have that branding), I also made up a YouTube channel. I rarely post on it, but I love to share what I know, so when I make a new toy or cage or something else pet related, or simply see my pets being cute, I post it up there. Lately there's been a bunch of isopod or roly-poly videos because raising them is my current addiction. They make great pets in a tiny package, plus there's the nostalgia of keeping creatures I loved as a kid. They were fun to watch curl up when I was a kid, but I never would have guessed they could come in so many different types and colors. I have orange ones, white, gray, striped, and ones that look like dairy cows. Most are on a new, separate channel I figured out I needed because I was inundating my personal one with pet vids. See my animal videos on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjBFt2SF0ilVZRjKJRpf8EA">AAwAV on YouTube</a></p><p>With the Instagram and YouTube accounts featuring my pets I decided to finally take the leap and create a website about my animals too. It shows the mainly rescue or rehomed animals I have as well as having a sale page for the isopods I'm raising and supplies for pets. It's a work in progress, but I think it came out pretty decent, so take a look: <a href="https://awesome-animals-with-alishav.webnode.com/">https://awesome-animals-with-alishav.webnode.com/</a></p><p>That's about all I've been doing online lately, I've mainly been reading and taking care of my animals. My depression has been a bit obnoxious lately, so I've been slacking on everything, but I've been trying to get myself going again. The animals' care comes first though, so by the time I finish with them there isn't always a lot of energy left. I've been so unsociable for the last few years I constantly have to remind myself that there's a pandemic as it hasn't changed much for me. Just a bit harder to get pet supplies, but I mostly do everything online anyways.</p><p>I'm also trying to find some sort of home to buy with little to no money and not a lot of credit, preferably in the California/Nevada area. Maybe an owner carry place to save hassle for everyone. I'm not too fussy, a good roof and good foundation with something at least semi-habitable. I just want something permanent where I can feel more comfortable and settle. It's difficult moving from place to place, never fully unpacking and having everything chaotic. And that's not even counting the stress of moving with all the animals. Plus the animals need a better place to live, maybe even a place where I can built a catio so they can have some fresh air.</p><p>It's been a strain living in various places that we don't own. The place we are now has upstairs neighbors who have kids and a lack of manners. Every moment they are there banging and stomping right overhead. The kids jump around and run back and forth and the guy has an incredibly heavy footstep and likes to slam doors and seems to be taking apart the apartment based on the dumpster outside and drill noises. It even overpowers the sound of the highway and airport we're right next to. Today the two kids have been jumping on the bed which is right over my desk and me. Not for a few minutes, but going on an hour. I'm not normally a nervous person, but the constant noise that only stops for about 2 hours a night makes me twitchy. They've also stopped up the toilet and had it leaking into our bathroom not once, not twice, but three different times. Once while everyone was gone for the day and it got so bad the water was dripping out into four different rooms and I had to move my angora rabbit so she didn't get soaked, all while wondering if this was the time the roof caved in.</p><p>Sorry, frustration build up. *sigh* I just want some control over my own home and maybe even some land where we can stretch out and relax. In a dream world I'd love a hobby farm, but I'd settle for a mobile home with a yard and no one living on top of me. Still would have to figure out how to cover whatever down payments and moving costs, but for some sort of home I can be creative.</p><p>So, that's me and what I've got going on. What about you? How have you been handling this last year? Are you writing somewhere or have any project going? What have you been up to?</p>AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-43068842039318738832009-06-01T20:37:00.001-07:002022-03-05T09:06:13.823-08:00Original Trona Pinnacles Picture<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNBS3bG5LD0OyuGWNqZmC95hpP3Un46rPhCUQHMT1vyRwFLDl7ZB-V0L3jXhcLsr37ohKZgpEvAEZK_rwelv0ChAE8BFMrZNwpskDJcNQROhkuz_fPkt-tRklmNrGN_g58TcM0SQfwiXOgatx3ph1Awpc21MhxtHMulusr6wq1o4v1qU3pO3HNa4Ox=s3296" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="2472" data-original-width="3296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNBS3bG5LD0OyuGWNqZmC95hpP3Un46rPhCUQHMT1vyRwFLDl7ZB-V0L3jXhcLsr37ohKZgpEvAEZK_rwelv0ChAE8BFMrZNwpskDJcNQROhkuz_fPkt-tRklmNrGN_g58TcM0SQfwiXOgatx3ph1Awpc21MhxtHMulusr6wq1o4v1qU3pO3HNa4Ox=s400"/></a></div>This is the original picture that I photo-shopped to make the other fantasy land one. I cropped it into a square, lightened it, and then added more saturation to bring out the colors. I think it turned out a bit different but also still had the same feeling as the original picture, that sense of place that is Trona Pinnacles.<br /><br />The Trona Pinnacles are tufa or carbonate spires near Death Valley in the California desert. They were created underwater 10,000 to 100,000 years ago, when the Panamint Valley and Death Valley were filled with ice age lakes. They are now high and dry though. Check out <a href="https://hubpages.com/travel/TronaPinnacles" target="_blank">The Trona Pinnacles</a> for more information about their formation and location as well as a film clip from a Lost in Space episode that was filmed at Trona Pinnacles.<br /><br />Also, I want to apologize about the last items I posted. When I linked those pictures from Flickr to the blog I had no idea that it was sending out blog posts for each one. I'm so sorry about filling up your in-boxes with several messages like that. Still friends? :)AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com2Trona Pinnacles, California, USA35.617736 -117.36810947.3075021638211552 -152.52435939999998 63.927969836178846 -82.2118594tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-33261644030918914352009-05-06T23:26:00.002-07:002009-05-06T23:32:51.220-07:00Some of My Favorite PhotosI have thousands of pictures that I've taken, most of them on various field trips through California or other parts of the west. Though we went to some wonderful places full of great possible shots, I rarely get the best pictures since we hurry from place to place and my short legs make it hard to keep up anyways without stopping to take pictures, so most of my photos are taken as I'm hurrying along or even out of the window of the field trip vans. Thus, they aren't the greatest they could be, but there have been some accidents where I got a few pictures that turned out nicely even without planning and tripods and proper equipment. These are a few of my favorite pictures.AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-27516531606349366002009-05-06T23:26:00.001-07:002022-03-05T09:09:21.687-08:00The Trona Pinnacles Aglow<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgFpEequHCQRTNNe2MWyFDne2QTEdv24SUABuo07zyejv9oK169isJ9V1NJPY5JNK3TAnVfkh3fRMjlzil0N6QVuCvuHosDYqhoUpvIxgYiV_FQvjnuowJ_aCUI1Pf7r0VcUKpHX9O78gl70yaAHrfpcCRVoZxuSo1zyjyXk4ZrDgm1P8uRKSP_3eA6=s2000" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgFpEequHCQRTNNe2MWyFDne2QTEdv24SUABuo07zyejv9oK169isJ9V1NJPY5JNK3TAnVfkh3fRMjlzil0N6QVuCvuHosDYqhoUpvIxgYiV_FQvjnuowJ_aCUI1Pf7r0VcUKpHX9O78gl70yaAHrfpcCRVoZxuSo1zyjyXk4ZrDgm1P8uRKSP_3eA6=s400"/></a></div>This was a boring shot of the Trona Pinnacles, carbonate towers near Trona, California that are similar to those at Mono Lake. It was early morning, but a bit past the best time to take a picture so the area was really heavily shadowed with many bright spots. I played with the picture using photo-editing software and brought out that natural glow that was hidden by the glare. I liked the picture a bit, but wasn't really into it until I set it as my desktop background for a while. The different tones the picture takes on as the computer boots up, then warms, then as it gets turned off, makes the picture turn from earliest dawn to sunset at various points and I've just fallen in love with the variations.AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com3Trona Pinnacles, California, USA35.617736 -117.36810947.3075021638211552 -152.52435939999998 63.927969836178846 -82.2118594tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-80289252209106023512009-05-06T23:21:00.001-07:002009-05-06T23:21:21.878-07:00Saltpools During Gem-O-Rama<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alishav/3504016558/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3608/3504016558_d47c9365c1_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alishav/3504016558/">Sunday (70)</a> <br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/alishav/">AlishaV</a></span><br clear="all" /><p>Red-tinted pools of saltwater in Searles Dry Lake, Trona, California during Gem-O-Rama. We waded through these pools to collect Halite crystals and they may look like blood but they stink horribly. The algae that gives them the red color and the salt mix and makes a terrible smell. The crystals are worth it though :)</p>AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-22971986574784129362009-05-06T23:17:00.001-07:002009-05-06T23:17:39.274-07:00Alabama Hills and Moon<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alishav/3259373235/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3398/3259373235_ba729a7e72_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alishav/3259373235/">Alabama Hills and Moon</a> <br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/alishav/">AlishaV</a></span><br clear="all" /><p>Camping at the Alabama Hills in California near Death Valley. Though the place has a stunning feel to it, it is extremely difficult to capture that sense of wonder in a picture. I love the color of this shot and the moon in just the right spot about some of the boulders that make up the area.</p>AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-14612367270318650862009-05-06T23:14:00.001-07:002022-03-05T09:13:23.656-08:00Double Arch<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZsmVQ0lOhDbpy1pPXT_0Bd723h70Xx-MrELUZ-Mw_25wlTEuG0hz9b3ysPipKSdh9lsXhcz3YEZO14Ttio37ec01adGS-vH6FN6bUuNKvdkcixhy3wfSEr4Gr3On0hGcF6Uixs9VURWhlS66-fbTsli1wIf9FvAs15AGcDTgNVFKD5PKlQU0vH2LT=s3296" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="3296" data-original-width="2472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZsmVQ0lOhDbpy1pPXT_0Bd723h70Xx-MrELUZ-Mw_25wlTEuG0hz9b3ysPipKSdh9lsXhcz3YEZO14Ttio37ec01adGS-vH6FN6bUuNKvdkcixhy3wfSEr4Gr3On0hGcF6Uixs9VURWhlS66-fbTsli1wIf9FvAs15AGcDTgNVFKD5PKlQU0vH2LT=s400"/></a></div>Double Arch in Arches National Park, Utah. The two arches creat all sorts of wonderful shadows and a great little cavity beneath them. I actually have a better picture of it that I'll try to load up later.AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com0The Windows Rd, Moab, UT 84532, USA38.6915718 -109.540303710.381337963821153 -144.69655369999998 67.001805636178844 -74.3840537tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-84634320282968579342009-05-06T23:12:00.001-07:002009-05-06T23:12:40.491-07:00Bryce Canyon<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alishav/2919145525/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3094/2919145525_7d584cfe6a_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alishav/2919145525/">100_3628</a> <br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/alishav/">AlishaV</a></span><br clear="all" /><p>Bryce Canyon, Utah in May. There was a light snow falling, and one day I hope to get back there and be able to get a shot with the red sediments glowing under a bed of white.</p>AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-12786392083131766022009-05-06T23:09:00.001-07:002009-05-06T23:09:17.133-07:00Creek Dividing the Pacific Plate and the North American<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alishav/3272636673/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3409/3272636673_6084bc3bd0_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alishav/3272636673/">Creek Dividing the Pacific Plate and the North American</a> <br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/alishav/">AlishaV</a></span><br clear="all" /><p>Near Parkfield, California, standing on a bridge looking at a creek flowing down the San Andreas Fault, which is the border between the North American and Pacific tectonic plates. There were swallows swooping all around us and the sun was warm yet gentle. Plus I was hoping for an earthquake :)</p>AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-57400680448068502452009-05-06T23:05:00.001-07:002022-03-05T09:18:55.483-08:00Stairway to the Sun<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgkChw0sxTU6ZvPgRpPavLI6hEQBNae2aPhjp7_ztFQzMond0olFaU6xgV7px1tcwX9qOZRFLVRhdAvMZkdvVDEBi9bqTDGFYbE6GVXkAa9OG0Xuw8y1TWJvjwKxC_7jTaDGoWBYMgS3rg38ubWxf71cYDv9G-zm1GqBqovRVEUAtPB908sLUYfeUto=s3296" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="3296" data-original-width="2472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgkChw0sxTU6ZvPgRpPavLI6hEQBNae2aPhjp7_ztFQzMond0olFaU6xgV7px1tcwX9qOZRFLVRhdAvMZkdvVDEBi9bqTDGFYbE6GVXkAa9OG0Xuw8y1TWJvjwKxC_7jTaDGoWBYMgS3rg38ubWxf71cYDv9G-zm1GqBqovRVEUAtPB908sLUYfeUto=s400"/></a></div>Hiking through the Pinnacles National Monument in California. You walk for a distance through dark caves that contain endangered bats and a whispering creek, and then come around the corner to this stairway up into the light. Get more info on this, one of my favorite places: <a href="https://hubpages.com/travel/Pinnacles_National_Monument" target="_blank">Pinnacles National Monument</a>AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com0Pinnacles National Park, California 95043, USA36.4905655 -121.18249258.180331663821157 -156.3387425 64.800799336178841 -86.0262425tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-28745817956432479792009-05-06T23:03:00.001-07:002009-05-06T23:03:13.887-07:00Hiking to Red Rock Canyon<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alishav/3272631429/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3477/3272631429_9b0969327d_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alishav/3272631429/">Hiking to Red Rock Canyon 4</a> <br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/alishav/">AlishaV</a></span><br clear="all" /><p>Our paleontology group hiking through Red Rock Canyon north of Reno. I love the colors there and the verticalness of this shot.</p>AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-90085176001861212442009-05-06T23:01:00.001-07:002009-05-06T23:01:46.852-07:00Creek Wandering into the Lake<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alishav/3273449656/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3379/3273449656_f1c44494ef_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alishav/3273449656/">Creek Wandering into the Lake</a> <br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/alishav/">AlishaV</a></span><br clear="all" /><p>On our trip up Highway 395 north of Reno, we stayed at a pretty little campground on Frenchman Lake. There was snow all along the edges and this creek and baby grass along the lakeshore. We got snowed out the very next day.</p>AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-78121201300124913442009-05-06T22:58:00.001-07:002009-05-06T22:58:56.643-07:00Walking Down to the Beach<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alishav/3272620051/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3444/3272620051_a5d5d26cd9_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alishav/3272620051/">Walking Down to the Beach</a> <br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/alishav/">AlishaV</a></span><br clear="all" /><p>Another picture from our trip to Point Reyes last Spring. Walking down the trail to the beach I always take tons of pictures, I love the flowers and little creek that runs along the side, but my favorite part of the trail is when you come around the last bit of the trail and the sea reveals itself.</p>AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-42100511409965345142009-05-06T22:56:00.001-07:002009-05-06T22:56:33.679-07:00Chicken Tractors at Pt Reyes<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alishav/3272622151/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3441/3272622151_7d73bd3204_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alishav/3272622151/">Chicken Tractors at Pt Reyes</a> <br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/alishav/">AlishaV</a></span><br clear="all" /><p>Movable chicken shelters called chicken tractors or arks, sitting in fields at Point Reyes, California. I took this picture because I love chicken tractors, but looking at it later, loved the clouds coming in off of the ocean over the hills.</p>AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-88515311827471971792009-05-06T22:54:00.001-07:002022-03-05T09:25:06.448-08:00Washing Crystals in the Brine<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjlNIlv5ubXkWQcxNTFI378pFcl3YWY1oFCGSoho1pIob5--wop-ZHmsq3apDczR1tj6L0tVeOKhDR3sHFxEHTZ8kx19LM_LDaZWJNwbo9TYMZ3AceJC9NDfFEgXB7lM1k293sLws6aAiZ__Ujr05kJnq6nhtraktjjybzhYD8KL0hJPfFC3H9wf0cJ=s3296" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="2472" data-original-width="3296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjlNIlv5ubXkWQcxNTFI378pFcl3YWY1oFCGSoho1pIob5--wop-ZHmsq3apDczR1tj6L0tVeOKhDR3sHFxEHTZ8kx19LM_LDaZWJNwbo9TYMZ3AceJC9NDfFEgXB7lM1k293sLws6aAiZ__Ujr05kJnq6nhtraktjjybzhYD8KL0hJPfFC3H9wf0cJ=s400"/></a></div>This is a picture from our trip to Gem-O-Rama in Trona, California last October. These people are scrubbing Hanksite crystals free of the mud they grew in using a saltwater/brine solution. This is one of the best places to get crystals and see geology, as long as you don't mind getting really messy. The crystals grow underground amidst the mineral-laden mud, and to get these specific crystals they scoop big piles of the mud up and let people dig through them. It's kind of crazy. See more info on it on my page about the event: <a href="https://discover.hubpages.com/games-hobbies/Gem-O-Rama" target="_blank">Gem-O-Rama in Trona, California</a>AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com0Searles Valley, CA 93562, USA35.767454 -117.40394677.4572201638211553 -152.5601967 64.077687836178853 -82.2476967tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-36411731619579100852009-04-09T22:42:00.000-07:002009-04-10T00:45:13.351-07:00CafePressLately I've been trying out a site I've just found out about. It's called CafePress and is basically selling items through little "stores" on the site. You can sell clothes, cards, and a few other items, either with your own picture on them or a design you come up with yourself. Since I don't have a program like Corel or Adobe, I haven't been able to design anything yet, but I have been using some of my photos to customize the items. Here's <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/AlishaV">My CafePress Store</a>. The site seems like an interesting idea, we decide what we want the t-shirts or whatever to look like, and then if someone buys the item, CafePress prints the item out and sends it to the buyer, without the seller having to do anything. They call this print-on-demand or pod.<br /><br />There are two levels of stores, a free, basic version, like I have right now, and a paid version, which allows the seller to do more, and that I've been considering. I haven't sold anything yet, so I'm hesitant to upgrade to a paid version, but might do it in the future. Since there's very little earnings on each item and it costs $7 a month for the upgraded store, I'm still trying to work out whether it is worthwhile or not.<br /><br />One nice thing about the site is that Squidoo is set up to easily display the items in a CafePress store. In fact, that's how I got started with CafePress. While making Squidoo lens I kept seeing the CafePress module and thought that it was interesting.<br /><br />I like the idea of being able to sell shirts and stuff with my designs on them and without having to keep a stock of already printed out items, dealing with selling them, then mailing them out, but am still feeling my way around. What do you think of the idea? Have you used CafePress? Have any hints on how to use it better?AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-17097527264348758592009-03-18T01:36:00.000-07:002009-03-18T04:08:54.696-07:00Flickr: Photos of the WorldI am completely addicted to Flickr. Flickr is a great photo hosting site, that is mainly aimed at sharing your pictures with the world. Most other places allow only people you choose to see your photos, some require people to have an invitation to get access, others need the photographer to give permission. Occasionally, they have a way for the photographer to make an exception if they choose, but it's still often difficult for your friends to get to see your pictures. I really liked Snapfish for a while, but having to have everyones email addresses and then sending them invitations to each photo album, which kept getting caught in the spam filter, made it difficult to share the photos. Photobucket was one exception to this invite situation, but their site has always felt awkward and cumbersome to me and while I have an account there, I rarely use it. I do like how easy Photobucket makes it to post photos on Craigslist and other sites and I will be using it a lot more for my Squidoo lenses since I just found out how to add clickable buttons to my lenses using Photobucket.<br /><br />Flickr allows you to keep pictures private if you choose, but what I like is that they make it easy to share the pictures with anyone that is interested, even if you don't know the person. In fact, as photos are uploaded a few of them will cross a page on the site so people that want to can watch to see if there's something they want to look at. It's actually very addicting seeing what new photos have been uploaded. There are some amazing artists out there, and I've seen some great shots. Flickr images also come up easily in searches, Google, or on site. This makes them great for learning more about a subject or just seeing what's happening in some corner of the world.<br /><br />The other reason I've come to love Flickr is their copyright policies. Anything put on the Internet has the potential for getting plagiarized, and images are no different, but Flickr makes it easy to adjust what specific copyright you want shown with each image. If you don't want anyone to use one of your pictures, set it to that copyright, if you don't mind if it gets used in non-commercial stuff, set it to that copyright, if you don't care what people want to do to the picture, you can even set it to that copyright. Since you can adjust the settings on each picture, you can easily share the ones you want to share and not share the ones you don't. I frequently use Creative Commons Commercial copyrighted photos for my eHow articles, and Squidoo has a great module to easily feature Flickr pictures so Creative Commons pictures are great for the small writer. To give a bit back I try and make the majority of my uploaded photos Creative Commons as well. I figure if everyone was stingy with all of their pictures it would ruin the great thing that Flickr has going, but of course a few of my favorites I don't allow to be used.<br /><br />Overall, Flickr seems to be one of the few decent photo sites and I really like it. I even upgraded to a pro account so I could add more than the 200 pictures they allow for the free accounts, and if you know me you know I never pay for stuff if there's a free version. It's great fun to just scroll through pictures and see everyone's takes on the world. Today, in fact, I was searching for a mosquito and got completely diverted by all the images that showed up. There was an amazing shot with an extreme closeup of a mosquito visibly sucking blood from someone's hand. It sounds disgusting but it was so fascinating. I searched for Gem-O-Rama and found a picture taken on the same day I was there and ended up talking with the person about the event. It is so much fun to see the photos other people have taken and sometimes learn the stories behind them. Actually it is so interesting that I have to prevent myself from following picture after picture and not getting any work done.<br /><br />If you're interested in seeing the pictures I have posted on Flickr either follow this link:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alishav/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/alishav/</a><br />or just do a search on there for AlishaV.AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-82668719720557763352009-03-01T03:17:00.000-08:002009-03-05T16:17:38.380-08:00Who Am I Really?In my last post I was writing about how the Myer-Briggs test categorized me as a INTJ, an introverted, intuitive, thinking, and judging personality. It basically said that I was not comfortable in social situations, was cold and rational, and standoffish.<br /><br /><a href="http://typelogic.com/intj.html">A Description of INTJs</a><br /><br />Some people have mentioned to me that that doesn't sound like me and that they think I seem outgoing and more like an extravert or even an ESFP. I've heard myself described as enthusiastic, smiley, and sunny. So why the difference? Perhaps this quote from the INTJ personality description will help explain:<br /><br />"INTJs can rise to management positions when they are willing to invest time in marketing their abilities as well as enhancing them, and (whether for the sake of ambition or the desire for privacy) many also find it useful to learn to simulate some degree of surface conformism in order to mask their inherent unconventionality." TypeLogic.com<br /><br />Being a cashier for several years, I was miserable, but did very well since I assumed a more outgoing personality in order to sell better. Nicknamed Bubbles, this alter-ego of mine was fun-loving, ditsy, and gregarious, and everything I'm normally not. I periodically pull up this attitude when I don't know what to do and basically hide behind it as though it's a costume. I think that's why my favorite holiday is Halloween, I can play in character, I just can't play myself.<br /><br />Thinking about it, I've played versions of this happy-go-lucky character for years. In school, I was always the helpful, little teacher's pet and my friends knew me as the outrageous one that was always coming up with stories and weird ideas and acting like a bit of a goofball. Once I decided I wasn't going to school one day and when my mother forced me up and out the door I walked down the street and instead of getting on the bus, I went into the chaparral and spent the day reading. Since that was so fun, the next day I took more books and a sheet to sit on and spent another day like that. The next day, a picnic and more books, and so on. I'm not sure how long it would have lasted, but soon two weeks had gone by and perhaps I would have kept doing it forever, but my mother went to pick me up early from school one day and lo and behold, I wasn't there. On my way back from the "bus" that day, I found everyone panicking, no one knew what to think. The most common reaction was that someone forced me to do it and I needed to reveal the perpetrator. No one believed me when I just said that I had said that I wasn't going to go to school and that I had spent the time by myself, reading. Eventually I ended up telling my friends that it was a hot guy with a convertible, and we spent the days in visiting the city, but it was funny how quickly people believed that pathetic made-up story and how little they believed the truth, that someone would choose to miss school to read. <br /><br />There are numerous other examples of my anti-social, non-conformist behavior that I wish I felt free enough to exhibit. While reading Robinson Crusoe when I was a child, I couldn't understand why he'd want off the island and wasn't having a great time, I ended up planning out my entire mini kingdom if I were in his place. Heck, I still want a private island. My favorite Twilight Zone episode was the one with the only survivor of an apocalypse going to the library and being able to read as much as he wanted, then breaking his glasses-I really felt for the guy. One of my favorite books is The Stand, and I don't think what happens is too terrible. If I wasn't such a prude about stuff I would be a hippy. I want to have my own ranch and grow most of my own food, my own clothing if I wanted any (what's the point of it?), and basically not have to visit town except once a month or so. Wait, is that my private island idea all over again?<br /><br />So, I guess the point of the Myer-Briggs test is to reveal who you really are and what you would be like if our society was different. What would you do if our society didn't condemn that behavior?AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-23756009570932598142009-03-01T00:27:00.000-08:002009-03-01T03:15:36.832-08:00Personality TypeSomeone I know recently mentioned that she took the Myer-Briggs personality test and wondered what other people's results would be like. Well, I hadn't thought about that test in several years.<br /><br />The basic premise behind the Myer-Briggs test is that everyone can basically be grouped into 16 categories. Your answers on the test are supposed to show whether you are an introvert or extravert (I or E), an intuitive person or a sensing one (N or S), follow your feelings or think stuff out (F or T), and are a judger or a perceiver(J or P). The combinations of letters make 16 different basic types.<br /><br />In my first year at college I took a class on career planning and they had us take several of those sorts of tests. On the Myer-Briggs test, myself, and three other people out of the entire class were categorized as introverts(I was an INTJ with a close call between N and S) everyone else was considered an extravert. With the extroverts gathered together and the introverts gathered together, it was pretty obvious who was who. The extravert table was full of screaming and yelling and jumping around, and talking about everything yet nothing. Us introverts were talking about nothing as well, but in our case, we were actually not talking. The introvert table was silent as we all stared at each other and waited for someone to start a conversation. We did eventually start talking, but it ended up being about how scary the extravert table was and how glad we weren't in that chaos.<br /><br />Interested to see what the results would be, if I took the test now, I took a couple of the free versions online. Here are the results of one of the tests:<br /><br />Introverted 78%<br />Intuitive 65%<br />Thinking 88%<br />Judging 78%<br /><br />a very expressed introvert<br />a moderately expressed intuitive personality<br />a very expressed thinking personality<br />a very expressed judging personality<br /><br />and the other test results:<br /><br />Introverted (I) 68% Extraverted (E) 32%<br />Intuitive (N) 55% Sensing (S) 45%<br />Thinking (T) 70% Feeling (F) 30%<br />Judging (J) 91% Perceiving (P) 9%<br /><br />Again, I tested as an INTJ with N and S being close to even. Interested in what they think my personality is like based on the results I clicked on type description. It said INTJs are logical, rational, liked lonely walks, was arrogant-seeming, and perfectionists, as well as listing numerous other adjectives. It said a good job for someone with my personality would be a scientist-I'm a geology major who loves to go hiking and looking for information in the rocks. I wouldn't have believed that would be the case when I first took the test and thought I could never have a science-related job since I wasn't good at science. One part listed other people known to be INTJs, such as Chevy Chase, Hilary Clinton, Marie Currie, and Stephen Hawking. Some fictional ones are Stewie (Family Guy), Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice), Hannibal Lector (Silence of the Lambs), Mr. Burns (The Simpsons),and Dr. House (House). All this information was all rather interesting. It seems like knowing who you are and your faults and your weaknesses would be an asset in life.<br /><br />On a roll now, I looked up more sites about the Myer-Briggs style tests and found entire forums dedicated to different personalities. I checked out one section devoted to INTJs and really realized how I must appear to other people. (Sorry, everyone!) It was interesting seeing people report that they do things that I thought I only did. The slight obsessive-compulsive tendencies, such as eating food in a certain order in certain ways only, the inability to stop what I'm doing while I'm in the middle of something, not being able to start conversations, and the lack of social skills, all seemed very familiar and seeing other people enabled me to see myself much clearer than I could before.<br /><br />What's your personality like? I don't mean the one you show everyone, but your inner self. Have you taken any Myer-Briggs style tests? As if so, what were your results? Do it help you know yourself better?<br /><br />If you want to take one of the tests here are a couple of free ones:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp">Human Metrics Version</a><br /><a href="http://www.kisa.ca/personality/">Kisa Version</a><br /><br />The free, online tests aren't considered as accurate as the original Myer-Briggs test, so if you're really interested in learning more you may want to pay the large fee to take that test. It's a really good idea if you're not sure about anything.AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-3079410022658571192009-02-14T22:09:00.000-08:002009-02-15T01:25:03.709-08:00What Are You Doing?I was recently having a conversation with someone about the uses of Facebook, My Space, Twitter, and Plurk, and other social medium sites. There seem to be quite a few sites devoted to the sole purpose of telling your friends what you're doing and having them tell you the same. I understand, Facebook and My Space have other features, but one of the main uses is to tell others what you're up to. Are we really that interested in knowing when one of our friends goes to the store or is going to walk their dog? Or do we just assume everyone's lives are far more interesting than our own?<br /><br />I don't know about other people, but I do know that I'm incredibly boring. I don't do interesting things that other people would want to know about. My day goes about the same most of the time, wake up, check earnings at eHow and Squidoo, check my email, start writing, try to eat a couple of times that day, and try to keep my computer working long enough to get something done. There's nothing there that is interesting enough to tell other people about. So, should I be signed up for and using these sites?<br /><br />Since most people recommend marketing projects through these sites, I've been trying to visit them regularly, posting things several times a day. Not only that, but Squidoo and eHow both have an option to automatically update Twitter each time I work on my stuff and Squidoo does it for Facebook as well. I even created a module on <a href="http://www.squidoo.com/howtowhat"><b>My Squidoo Lens about My eHow Articles</b></a> that updates automatically every time I use Twitter. For info on doing this check out my article I wrote <a href="http://www.ehow.com/how_4761613_feed-of-ehow-articles-squidoo.html"><b>Make a Twitter Feed of your eHow Articles at Squidoo</b></a><br /><br />Each day I have a battle over posting on these sites though. Not because it's difficult, it's very intuitive, I just don't want to post only stuff that is basically advertisements. To play fair, I try and post interesting tidbits occasionally as well. Not only does this help me follow the letter of the rules at these sites, but it also makes it more likely I'll get fans or followers and actually reach someone with my articles and lenses. The problem comes when I try to figure out what else to post. I can never think of interesting things to post and I end up sitting and staring at the screen trying to come up with something. I usually end up writing something inane and dreading the next time I have to come up with a clever post.<br /><br />Since I have such a hard time coming up with stuff to Tweet or Plurk, I wonder how other people do it. Are they really interesting people, or do they have this difficulty too? If they're really that fascinating, why are they posting all the time on these sites? It seems as though culture expects everyone to be consistently interesting and to have the time and energy to tell everyone about how interesting we are. I've gotten to the point where I'm just going to try and post whatever I can think of, no matter what it is.<br /><br />Do you try to answer the question of "what are you doing" by posting on these sites? If so, do you have trouble coming up with posts?<br /><br />If you want to check out my Twitter, Facebook, and other sites, just follow the links below, but a warning, don't expect my posts to be anything but boring :-)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/alishavargas"><b>My MySpace Page</b></a><br /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/AlishaV"><b>My Facebook Page</b></a><br /><a href="http://www.plurk.com/AlishaV"><b>My Plurk Page</b></a><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/AlishaV"><b>My Twitter Page</b></a>AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-63029269602686050842009-01-30T20:52:00.000-08:002009-02-01T18:09:02.501-08:00Diatoms<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZQj9rsKYr9U_7Yg_T15jBHbtRVinzJOR2eVntvpN3cAyQqdP_ETl8NOQ0p5pcZnZh5nVyObrCixtG7y9FjKZPn0DY4ElHJwJLYbyw-kSocXlxQH1rOlbv3ka0YNj9ykLmtaxpESSUA8Q/s1600-h/PICT0286.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 161px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZQj9rsKYr9U_7Yg_T15jBHbtRVinzJOR2eVntvpN3cAyQqdP_ETl8NOQ0p5pcZnZh5nVyObrCixtG7y9FjKZPn0DY4ElHJwJLYbyw-kSocXlxQH1rOlbv3ka0YNj9ykLmtaxpESSUA8Q/s320/PICT0286.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297342171423538114" border="0" /></a><br />One of my favorite creatures in the world, is one that almost no one has ever heard of. In fact, it may not even be a creature, no one really knows whether they should consider it a creature or a plant. I'm talking about diatoms.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Diatoms</span> are tiny, single-celled organisms that are shown in the picture to the right and are extremely important to our world. They live in the ocean, lakes, streams, and wet spots and produce much of the oxygen that we breathe. Prehistoric <span style="font-weight: bold;">diatoms</span> also produced much of our fossil fuels as well. Their benefits to the world don't end there either.<br /><br />Millions of years ago, in the Pliocene and Pleistocene, diatoms flourished. Great inland seas were everywhere, and the diatoms took advantage of the expanded range by breeding prolifically. As they died, their shells settled to the bottom. Over time, the diatom shells built up into layers hundreds or thousands of feet thick. These layers compressed into a rock, <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitK3FuWKit_0pYB_bpvHJX2gu2Twcr-4J8jqU8uf6eXot217250hpzPCxJBnvk57c6xbpc3v17TkWyew4nOKornxGJbbhj9Jfym1OwyOHHZSGQF4BP1w-S2nWsoi3LvOssnosChlg0s14/s1600-h/little+diatomite+mine.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 281px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitK3FuWKit_0pYB_bpvHJX2gu2Twcr-4J8jqU8uf6eXot217250hpzPCxJBnvk57c6xbpc3v17TkWyew4nOKornxGJbbhj9Jfym1OwyOHHZSGQF4BP1w-S2nWsoi3LvOssnosChlg0s14/s320/little+diatomite+mine.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297342152744869058" border="0" /></a>called <span style="font-weight: bold;">diatomite</span>, which is mined to produce a material called <span style="font-weight: bold;">diatomaceous earth</span>. The picture to the right is that of a diatomite mine.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Diatomaceous earth</span> is used in numerous products, including cake mixes, animal feed, toothpaste, and pool filters. It kills bugs non-chemically, so it's also important to the organic industry. It's not dangerous to people or animals, unless they breath in too much and then it can irritate the lungs, but it does a great job of killing bugs through dehydration. It is considered one of the best desiccants available.<br /><br />The key to the <span style="font-weight: bold;">diatoms'</span> usefulness are their specialized shells, called frustules. Their frustules are made up of silica, so it's almost like the diatoms live in quartz or glass houses. These siliceous shells are covered in tiny spikes that are so small, we large animals can't feel them at all, but they are just the right size to stick bugs and <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv9X2NIjTCXLmLsUPD_h5FxCsWNVcqJ7fcmvTSaiEF_FRT6vuYC6B8tKhHbHCh8I11rWzTygeMnjha3MpTgBNBXoXM3lASfCV4ssF9uJb6PuPrb1DQ5JJGqNkSdzl7WODxEsz1VrbFY8Y/s1600-h/PICT0267.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 163px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv9X2NIjTCXLmLsUPD_h5FxCsWNVcqJ7fcmvTSaiEF_FRT6vuYC6B8tKhHbHCh8I11rWzTygeMnjha3MpTgBNBXoXM3lASfCV4ssF9uJb6PuPrb1DQ5JJGqNkSdzl7WODxEsz1VrbFY8Y/s320/PICT0267.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297342164130190914" border="0" /></a>viruses. This makes them great for feeding to animals with worms and sprinkling in the garden to get rid of garden pests and using as a natural pest deterrent. It also makes it a great abrasive which makes it useful in toothpaste. The pile of Diatomaceous Earth in the picture is just a small amount from the diatomite mine in the previous picture.<br /><br />I love diatoms so much, and they're so important to the world that I've decided to share info on them with everyone. I'm making a Squidoo lens called <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Wonderful World of Diatoms</span> and another about Diatomaceous Earth, simply called <span style="font-weight: bold;">Diatomaceous Earth</span>. I'm hoping I can share my love of these little organisms with everyone that is interested. Here's what I have done already:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.squidoo.com/diatoms">The Wonderful World of Diatoms</a><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><a href="http://www.squidoo.com/fossilflour">Diatomaceous Earth</a><br /><br />Check them out and let me know what you think so far. I've barely scratched the surface but eventually I hope to really reveal the secrets of the mysterious diatoms.AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-69332583682607693922009-01-14T16:17:00.000-08:002009-01-14T16:53:08.924-08:00Do you, Squidoo?If it seems I haven't been posting enough here, I have a reason. I've been making something called a <span style="font-weight:bold;">Squidoo</span> Lens. Actually, I've been making three with more on the way. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Squidoo</span> is an interesting site that allows one to discuss a subject or an idea with the world in an easy to use fashion-even for me, the perpetual internet idiot. <br /><br />I've been doing it primarily to promote my articles on <span style="font-weight:bold;">eHow</span> and expand what they say in an easier to read format but I also love the freedom it gives me to share other stuff. I made one lens about my cats, who they are, where they came from. I added some cute kitty <span style="font-weight:bold;">YouTube</span> videos and linked to the two cat articles I've already written. As I write more articles on cats or related subjects I'll just add them to the page.<br /><br />I also made a lens or page about <span style="font-weight:bold;">Gem-O-Rama</span>. It tells a bit about the event, has a bunch of pictures, and will eventually have more information added when I have a chance to write it up.<br /><br />The newest lens is one I wrote just the other day is called Camping Fun. I'm not exactly sure where I'm going with that one. I may make it about how to start camping but I may also make it about camping tricks I've picked up through the years. It will probably evolve to be a sort of compilation of both with some of the cute stories about things that have gone awry on friends and my camping trips.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Check them out and see what you think:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.squidoo.com/AlishaVs_Cats">AlishaV's Cats</a><br /><a href="http://www.squidoo.com/Gem-O-Rama">Gem-O-Rama</a><br /><a href="http://www.squidoo.com/camping_fun">Camping Fun</a></span>AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-21608238906635947402008-12-25T13:20:00.000-08:002008-12-25T15:20:22.259-08:00My White Christmas<div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzqqnXq2H2t609HHTLhEm6bjd_fJPgjC3CpuXbQZbnbsE0PEWEg5issudUi5HWfG5ka096DBgek7ZPT78GoDc-Zen8vso4ymrYiTLqfAn4hODKvEgEzKLzFy9yM2daMd4qS_vZVQvpiXU/s1600-h/100_8309.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283869683012154002" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzqqnXq2H2t609HHTLhEm6bjd_fJPgjC3CpuXbQZbnbsE0PEWEg5issudUi5HWfG5ka096DBgek7ZPT78GoDc-Zen8vso4ymrYiTLqfAn4hODKvEgEzKLzFy9yM2daMd4qS_vZVQvpiXU/s320/100_8309.jpg" border="0" /></a>Growing up on southern California, I have never spent much time in snow. It did fall a couple of times near my house, but that melted before it even touched the ground. When I moved to the Sacramento area I thought here was my chance to enjoy some real winter weather. It wasn't that far to ski resorts and snowshoeing paths and it seemed like it would be simple to figure out what these things were about. Then life happened and I very rarely had time to drive up the mountain and no time to attempt these things.<br /><br />Now, I live in Reno. Reno's elevation is 4,400 feet above sea level, so it's considered high desert. It gets cold here and I'm still not used to that, but what I do find exciting (for now) is that it snows here! This seems amazing to me. Actual pieces of frozen material fall down on me when I go outside! I know, all of you who have lived where it snows are making fun of me. Everyone tells me I'll grow to hate the snow. I know I probably will. I've already realized it completely curtails <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5GVhjZ6QREUV-07_gJ5Mih6EB_ExqLb-FMrbWVegQwXOyA8cl2zNKaNoo3eoL_uezMyGOXSq7jOeQS9Pdoh8aZ_GIKfNhR0WPyWwEyLl0sA-COfecyNJru1t05XvKzOicNFg2UIHG9a4/s1600-h/100_8310.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283868853196029346" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5GVhjZ6QREUV-07_gJ5Mih6EB_ExqLb-FMrbWVegQwXOyA8cl2zNKaNoo3eoL_uezMyGOXSq7jOeQS9Pdoh8aZ_GIKfNhR0WPyWwEyLl0sA-COfecyNJru1t05XvKzOicNFg2UIHG9a4/s320/100_8310.jpg" border="0" /></a>my ability to go rock collecting. But at this point, the snow is just something unusual and amazing to me. I can't believe how pretty it makes everything, even my crappy neighborhood.<br /><br />I moved here to Reno at the beginning of November and they were having an unusual warm streak then. It was sunny and fairly warm and everyone went around in <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">short sleeves</span>. Then the weather changed. It turned cold and just being outside and breathing hurt my lungs. Then a few days ago, a light dusting of snow fell. The cats stared out the windows, bemused, and I ran outside in my bare feet to get a picture of it. It mostly melted off when the sun came out and then another light dusting fell again. It's been going on like this for a few days and then this morning I looked outside and it was white! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_qpBsCvwli7Z_WsFIHr7O_Q6D-2PnV36qfd6IveN93Y_6oBr7cFtNMk_wgt_KLs_E8_FSqoJerLNpRD-8UjkyyyG4G8XcEUMCeL_fUbLYZ1JBYmD2KpYxnMKiQK8xPhqKWkkq_J9x-2s/s1600-h/100_8312.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283869254726192850" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_qpBsCvwli7Z_WsFIHr7O_Q6D-2PnV36qfd6IveN93Y_6oBr7cFtNMk_wgt_KLs_E8_FSqoJerLNpRD-8UjkyyyG4G8XcEUMCeL_fUbLYZ1JBYmD2KpYxnMKiQK8xPhqKWkkq_J9x-2s/s320/100_8312.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div></div><div>Snow must have been falling all night since the ground outside is completely covered. What a Christmas surprise-my first heavy snowfall! I actually live in a place where there are such things as white Christmases. It is incredible. It is amazing. It is cold! I ran outside as soon as I noticed the coating of white and didn't take the time to grab my shoes. My poor little feet about froze off. Now I sit starring out the window, watching the snow continue to fall. It has been going on and off all day long and the snow keeps piling up. Maybe I'll go out and make my first snow angel...</div></div>AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-40115788917672617032008-12-20T16:49:00.000-08:002008-12-20T19:01:10.475-08:00My New Apartment<div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmyfsOjRixnS4FDr2DkZXhDxd5so73_CeZ6YqXx4PBW9PkLibJ7unKB_QSsOvNC_2zSGRFSMrPso2LFJk-IRbr53kKee1IgQYJ17gE3HRZ6R2WC0b1AxfHOtZGxjD84Q3vP6_tuDytfcg/s1600-h/100_7924.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282070991531130626" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 308px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 235px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmyfsOjRixnS4FDr2DkZXhDxd5so73_CeZ6YqXx4PBW9PkLibJ7unKB_QSsOvNC_2zSGRFSMrPso2LFJk-IRbr53kKee1IgQYJ17gE3HRZ6R2WC0b1AxfHOtZGxjD84Q3vP6_tuDytfcg/s320/100_7924.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>As some of you may know, I just moved to Reno from the Sacramento area. My new apartment is sort of cute, but better yet, it's cheap. It's right across the river from the downtown casinos and is more importantly, near the main library. It is interesting, I've never lived right in the middle of a city. I'm pretty much a country girl at heart and love living on lots of land with space for all my animals. It is nice to be close to stuff though. When I post on Craigslist and Freecycle there are people actually located close to me! (-: I'll also be right near Street Vibrations and Hot August Nights when they go on. Yeah!<br /><br />There are a couple of things that are bugging me about the new place though. One is that it is an apartment and an old one at that. It lets every sound in and every sound out. You can even hear the people below me talking and when someone knocks on someone else's door, I can't tell if it's mine or the neig<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfY06iEIYvjkyRefkPwXGmeNZA1pOVI-yfx-K4eyG69rFuTHvJoveN5HjuetwIOuK3xaPvl7kS9-oGxdAwsIlj3t-h3UAkkqRvjP-Dz10tL4U8a2fp7Oikz3gRbQOw12wAfFsCD8c_8EQ/s1600-h/100_8035.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282070999331736210" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfY06iEIYvjkyRefkPwXGmeNZA1pOVI-yfx-K4eyG69rFuTHvJoveN5HjuetwIOuK3xaPvl7kS9-oGxdAwsIlj3t-h3UAkkqRvjP-Dz10tL4U8a2fp7Oikz3gRbQOw12wAfFsCD8c_8EQ/s320/100_8035.jpg" border="0" /></a>hbor's. I can be quiet when I need to be but the cats and the rabbits can't seem to understand they should be quiet as well. Little Bit has been chasing Holly around their cage (the rabbits) starting at about 1 am and continuing until about 5 am. The cats have been playing racetrack by running around the apartment and then bouncing off the wall to turn around in the other direction and run that way. It sounds like a herd of galloping horses. All this at about 3 am until everyone in the apartment building is awake and leaving very early for work. I've tried everything to get them to shut up and at least play tag during the daytime. No go. My cats and rabbits are obviously not prepared to be quiet to satisfy anyone, least of all me. I think my neighbors are either acclimating to the constant noise or have started to sleep with earplugs since I don't hear them wake up whenever the cats start anymore. So, since no one has come up and screamed at me for disturbing their sleep I think we're doing okay there.<br /><br />The other problem I'm having with the apartment is stupid. I can't figure out a way to arrange it so that it is comfortable and not terribly cluttered. I said it was stupid. It wasn't a problem initially since we didn't bring any furniture over the mountains with us. The car was pretty much packed with the cats and rabbit cages and we barely had enough room for some clothes and random items. So the apartment was nice and empty to start with. Lots of room and it looked easy enough to arrange the furniture when we got some. I looked and looked and finally found a small couch for free on Craigslist. We ran over and picked it up with our car. (Yeah, we strapped it on top. We looked great driving around like that!) After carrying it up the stairs and putting it in our apartment we realized there was a problem. Even though it was a small couch it sort of took over the apartment. Then we got a free bed when one of the casinos was getting all new ones (yep, strapped it to the car again). That took up the entire bedroom. Free TV stand, filled another corner. A couple of cute, free blue chairs, we can barely move. Well, it's a small apartment, it was to be expected. </div><div> </div><div>My problem is that the orientation of the living room makes it almost impossible to set up in a way that makes sense. Almost one entire side is open to the kitchen with one small wall next to the hallway with a wall radiator on it. The opposite wall is almost all window from about 3' up. On another wall is the entrance to the room set right in the center. That means almost everything has to go against the one empty wall so nothing gets blocked. The entertainment center had to go kitty corner next to the door where it's blocking one window completely and another partially. So, every time I've been sitting on the couch one thought keeps going through my mind, "Why <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhECGDlDian7sx6qZcKcYhyphenhyphenJwEvyyvawYB_SKa3RVjArjzKxTy5moM2O6wSlArLGRzcknNpu5hvbO9GFPnXRwlZraD3S-WZiQJjPrKpV5gLcp1oLOrWuhgMXnxAicbfOiArKXaBExv87os/s1600-h/100_7666.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282070996496168514" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhECGDlDian7sx6qZcKcYhyphenhyphenJwEvyyvawYB_SKa3RVjArjzKxTy5moM2O6wSlArLGRzcknNpu5hvbO9GFPnXRwlZraD3S-WZiQJjPrKpV5gLcp1oLOrWuhgMXnxAicbfOiArKXaBExv87os/s320/100_7666.jpg" border="0" /></a>do apartment designers have to make apartments impossible to decorate?" All they had to do was move the door over 1' or put the radiator on a wall where it made sense to put it. Just doing one of those things would mean I could arrange my furniture properly. But no, for some reason they didn't think anyone was ever going to put furniture in the living room or something and so made it impossible not to block the entrance to the kitchen, the radiator, the door, or the windows. Why?! Why would they do it this way? So, lately this is bothering me. I keep rearranging the furniture in my head, trying to figure out some way that it will work.</div></div></div>AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438483269102206621.post-88076114356295855542008-12-15T20:00:00.000-08:002008-12-15T20:12:59.112-08:00Gem-O-Rama Articles<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyC_OCkVkw0BF1GfvIIStujMTLdnmyK0aF_2MPYgMmbE89AVvPTvu-Khio_GCO6tRRbOzO5h1vvnE-uwuSnJW7Nncb-4ZyqcTqAwE1eAEOfoieJFNfVHnWMtCca-pO41v_u2nC9BLgVTU/s1600-h/Saturday+(24).JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280235940809797026" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyC_OCkVkw0BF1GfvIIStujMTLdnmyK0aF_2MPYgMmbE89AVvPTvu-Khio_GCO6tRRbOzO5h1vvnE-uwuSnJW7Nncb-4ZyqcTqAwE1eAEOfoieJFNfVHnWMtCca-pO41v_u2nC9BLgVTU/s320/Saturday+(24).JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="color:#6666cc;">I've been really busy lately. Ever since I went to Gem-O-Rama in 2007 and came back with some great mineral specimens, I've been having a problem. Everyone wanted in on the whole Gem-O-Rama thing! They wanted to know all about what it was, where it was, and how they could do it. So, I had to keep telling people how to go and do it and sending people my photographs so they could see what it was like. That just didn't seem like enough to give people an idea of what it was really like though. Then, this last September I found a site that let me describe how to do Gem-O-Rama to everyone in the world that was interested. So, I wrote an article. Then it seemed like that wasn't enough, so I wrote another one, and another. Now, I've got a bunch of articles on how to do Gem-O-Rama as well as several other topics. Check them out here:</span> <a href="http://www.ehow.com/members/AlishaV-articles.html"><span style="color:#33cc00;">http://www.ehow.com/members/AlishaV-articles.html</span></a><span style="color:#6633ff;">. I've gotten addicted to article writing and so have been doing it constantly lately. That is, when I'm not trying to prevent my kitties from walking on my keyboard...jmkljjkhfgggbhjf</span></div>AlishaVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10327080338167437832noreply@blogger.com0