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Good morning

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Aristea in the park

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Who found the chocolate?

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Queen of the Castle

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Need to get some new specs

I’ve just noticed that my specs have started to develop a greenish tint which seems to be where sweat collects. It comes off easily, but it looks like the coating on the frame has worn away at that location, so it’s time to get some new glasses. It’s been more than a year since I got my eyes checked, so it’s about time that I got them done.

I was looking around on the Web for ideas for specs and seeing it’s the Christmas holidays, these holiday frames caught my eye. The frame is pretty cool, it has a translucent to dark green frame front, with white temples, tipped in dark green. Here’s the best bit. It has snowmen and evergreens parading along the arms, which I think it an excellent way to celebrate Christmas. The specs are from Zenni Optical which means they’re the cheaper you’ll find around. The specs that caught my eye are around $17, which means you could get a spare pair just to wear during the holidays, just to celebrate that little bit more.

I’m sure sure if I’ll be able to order that pair though, as they only seem to deliver to the U.S. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like them here in the UK. But I definitely will keep my eyes open ;)

  • Dated: December 30, 2008

What a great Christmas

Fruit Minced Pies

We had an excellent Christmas day with loads of great food, great gifts and great company. Camille tried some new things, her mince pies were amazing, her Xmas cake fabulous and the turkey this year was really juicy and tasty. Her mince pies had nuts in them and they were just amazing. Would recommend anyone making their own mince pies to add nuts in them. Very yummy.

We had a big mountain of presents too, especially as everyone was buying stuff for Arthur. He even got a set of drums (or brums as he calls them). I think the best buy however was a marble game where one can construct a contraption that lifts marbles up and drops them down via a sequence of chutes and other mechanisms. It’s a bit old for him (the box says 8+, but we had a whale of a time building and playing with it). I guess he’ll get quite a bit of use out of it.

Anyway, I hope you all had a great Christmas. Pity we have to wake a whole year for the next one ;)

  • Dated: December 25, 2008

Heaven in a bar – 9 Bar original

As I’m not on my diet any more, I’ve been trying a number of things I’ve been meaning to try over the last few weeks. One of the things I’ve been meaning to try was the 9 Bar Seed Bar which includes hemp as one of the ingredients. And I must say it’s just awesome! It’s an all-natural bar made from these ingredients: Sunflower seeds, Pumpkin seeds, Dehulled hemp seeds, Sesame seeds, Poppy seeds, Carob topping, Honey, Raw cane sugar and All vegetable margarine.

I made the mistake of expecting it to taste like a cereal bar, but I couldn’t have been further from the truth. This bar was full of flavour and the texture was just amazing. In fact, after my first bite, I took a closer look at the bar and realised it was just a packed mass of seeds which was where all the flavour was coming from.

The bar I tried had been sent to me as a sample, and it was super yummy, I’ll be keeping an eye out for these. I know you can find them in health stores, but I’m hoping our local Tesco store has some of these in stock. I also gave a seach on Google for them and found there’s a whole range to try.

  • Dated: December 23, 2008

Finding a local tutor in the US

clubzI remember going to private lessons as a kid, sitting together with other kids in someone’s house or garage and catching up. Granted, I did it because my parents wanted me to take some exams early (expecting a kid to take 12 subjects in one go is a pretty tough thing to do), and I’m grateful that this helped me space them out. I don’t think I would have got 15 O Levels if I had taken them all in one go!

I’m never actually been tutors, but I can imagine it’s a much more powerful tool as a student gets one-on-one attention. I came across a website today called Club Z Tutoring that helps students and tutors hook up for SAT Test Prep and other exams. They’re based in the US, so if you’re based there and looking for a tutor, check them out.

  • Dated: December 23, 2008

Gorgeous mince pies

UK - London: Mince Pie

Camille made some amazing mince pies today. Actually, they’re not quite mince pies as the filling is more than the usual ingredients. She’s added almonds and hazelnuts to the mix and left them open with a star on top. They’re more like tarts than mince pies and they’re pretty awesome!

It’s nice that she’s ready to try something different and the result is amazing. Some people will not try new food (though they would try Fenphedra if someone offered it to them). Sometimes it doesn’t work and the worst case would have been that she would have had to make another batch. But these were just great!

Here’s to a very tasty Christmas!

  • Dated: December 21, 2008

New domain

I recently found out that I had registered a domain with my full name a couple of months back (yeah I had forgotten). I’ve put something up at http://owencutajar.com, but I’m not 100% certain what I’m going to do with the domain. I’m quite happy with this domain here, but I might use it for SEO purposes, not that I know much about conversion rate optimization, but I guess having another domain can’t help.

Hmm .. it’s 3:00am at the moment, and my brain is fried, maybe I’ll be able to think about it more clearly in the morning.

Nite nite all

  • Dated: December 20, 2008

Diet on hold for Christmas

A photo of a bear decoration for a Christmas tree.
Image via Wikipedia

Well, it’s a couple of days away from Christmas, so I’m going to give my diet a break for a few days. To tell you the truth I have been careless over the last few days, but I’m sure I can make it all up in the new year. It may be possible to do this easier if I was on some sort of weight loss pill, but I’m working on calorie counting, and the only way to keep the diet up would have been not to partake in the Xmas festivities.

Anyway, if you’re reading this, I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a brilliant New Year!

  • Dated: December 20, 2008

Welcoming Derek to the Blogosphere

My mate Derek has started blogging, so if you’re looking for something interesting to read check out his blog. He works as a DJ here in the Isle of Man, after having moved here from South Africa; but he’s also passionate about social media and the impact it can have on business. He also produces podcasts which I’m sure you’ll enjoy listening to, if you are into that sort of thing.

I met him at Third Thursday and should be meeting him in future ones (and no, I haven’t sorted out satellite network access as I said I might ..  out of my reach!) But we’ll do one with Internet Access one of these day!

  • Dated: December 12, 2008

Staying home for Christmas

O Christmas Tree

This year we’re staying home and Camille‘s family is visiting us. Last year we went to Malta, but Christmas is so much nicer here in the British Isles. It feels more like Christmas when it’s all frosty outside, when you have a real tree in your living room, when everyone has their fingers crossed that it might snow.

We may eventually change our minds and go for an Australian summer Xmas or a one of those Vegas vacations one day, but for now we’ll stick with a magical Christmas here in the windy Isle of Man.

  • Dated: December 12, 2008

Becoming Gorgeous

I was at a friend’s house where we were talking about the Web when I noticed that she was using a website I had never been on before. It was up because she was looking for information about hairstyles but what caught my attention was that the website is centered around a community experience where users can talk about their experiences (whether it’s around things they have tried or products they have bought), share reviews and comments and make wishlists and bookmark favourite items.

To be perfectly honest, I don’t usually go around browsing around beauty or fashion websites, but I guess they are as valid to their users as any website I visit is to me. What struck me however, was the use of the same social media premises you see in existing successful websites being applied to this segment. I thing the main points that caught my eye were the sections about Tips that users shared with one another, photo galleries where members can upload photos, and the Q&A section where users can ask questions about problems they have had and get answers from other members.

If you think this is the sort of website you’d be interested in, just go ahead and check it out

  • Dated: December 7, 2008
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