Pyramid du Louvre Caught At Sunset

by admin on August 31, 2011 in Travel, Travel Trott with 2 Comments
pyramide du louvre

The sun started sinking from the skies.  I gazed around absorbing all the magnificent colors and reflections from the buildings while a man plays the violin.  The sunset, the violin…it seems as if they are teaming up to create an unforgettable show that will be a lasting memory for all passing by.  Finally the sun falls behind the Pyramid du Louvre.  The sun is captured in the glass.  And for a handful of minutes, you can’t help but stare, because you know that this is one of those moments that are rare.

What a beautiful site from one of the most well known spots in Europe, the Louvre.

Merci a Paris

High Resolution Pics

Restaurant Polidor of Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris

by admin on August 29, 2011 in Travel, Travel Trott with 1 Comment
Restaurant Polidor

If you had to describe French food (or maybe use the word “cuisine” to appear sophisticated like the French as we touring around the Parisian streets), what would you say?  Would you talk about the French foods in a creepy way?  “Oh those freaky frog legs, the uncooked meat called tar-tar, which omg I need to zap in the microwave before eating…  Or would you talk about the elegance, the mouth watering steaks smoothed in savory oh la la sauce that melt ever so slowly in your mouth.  Or how about the tarte tintin (upside down apple pie) served at the perfect temperature for a perfect desert?

Well, I decided to go one step further than food and try to describe the Parisian French restaurant experience I enjoyed over the weekend.
I had the pleasure of touring Paris with a local Parisian.  Not only did I get the chance to see areas of Paris unknown to the average tourist, but I got to eat at a French restaurant and get a real local dining experience.   Named Restaurant Polidor, its story began in 1845 and to this day, they don’t accept credit cards, probably one of the cool reasons that Wooden Allen decided to shoot his last film here entitled “Midnight in Paris”.  I haven’t seen the film yet, but eating here has inspired me to hit up the video rentals.

If he makes it, the crowd shall come

Chaotic joy

You sit down.  It’s crowded.  Apparently Woody Allen’s film boosted recent business to the restaurant as people flock by the masses.  The tables are placed as they would be in a school cafeteria and so you share tables with strangers, but you won’t even care.
The service is amusingly chaotic.  The restaurant is packed with guests, but not with servers.  The waiters/waitresses will avoid eye contact when possible.  Our waiter disappeared and so we asked help from another.  Stress in the air.  Rather than assisting, the waiter lectured us about how we cannot expect help from other waiters because they are too busy.  It almost felt like we did something wrong by asking for service….btw, this lectured occurred twice by two different waiters.  And so you escape from the stressful and head for the toilet only to find that the toilet is a hole in the floor….old school.

But eventually you are served, and enjoy the “local French moment” with your friends.  About 50 euros per person will get you a 3 course meal  with pate, duck, delicious desert and a couple bottles of wine.  And after the first bottle of “vin” (French word for wine) you  forget the chaos.  You look to your friends and realize that this is one of those experiences that you don’t get anywhere, but one that you get in Paris.

…And after we went out in search of our next bar a vin to continue our special night way beyond a Midnight in Paris.

Photo Source:

http://parisfocus.blogspot.com/2010/03/cremerie-restaurant-polidor-after.html

my writing drug, rain drops

by admin on August 25, 2011 in Blog, Business Bounce with No comments
focus man

Recently I’ve been working on a new gig at work to write four product summaries. Cool assignment, but funny when thinking about expectations versus how things ran in the past. If I remember correctly, earlier efforts to accomplish the same task took the team 2-3 months. I was given 2 weeks to deliver drafts of all four.

Rain drops, no dubstep

I’ve tried writing to all types of music.  Even found “Concentration Music” on Spotify….which wasn’t so bad. But for some amazing reason, the rain mixed with the dim lights really helped me focus and churn out some paper content.  I was able to finish earlier than anticipated, that I even made a little video to capture the sound….while trying to be a bit of an artsy. I’m definitely no Van Gogh.

note to self: save the dubstep for weekends

Playing with CSS sprite

by admin on August 13, 2011 in Uncategorized with No comments

Not the typical Saturday thing to do, but when it’s raining, I might as well try to learn something.

CSS Sprites Demo

navigation sprites

 

Which theme is best? SEO or Style centered?

by admin on July 20, 2011 in Blog with No comments

content is kingContent is king

When you’re just starting to build your own blog, it becomes very exciting to realize that you can change the look and feel relatively easy.  For beginners, including me being in this categories for several years, you simply search for blog templates that look awesome.  Find one with the best looking designs and colors that match your favorites.  Download, upload, done.  You have a new look and you’re excited for 5 minutes until asking yourself, “I wonder if there is something better?”

Curiosity killed the cat

And here is where the dilemma begins.  Shortly after 5 minutes of having a new blog template, you realize that there is a better template, better suiting your needs.  Then you switch.  The next day you realize that the template isn’t everything that you hoped for.  And you continue to change….oops, and in the meantime you lose time to write content.

Well I’ve encountered the same issue, and finally I have decided to call it quits on simply trying to find themes that look the best.  Rather than focusing on which blog template to use based on looks, I’ve decided to use one based on SEO capacity.  I want a website that will help me share my information on the Internet and help me network with similar minded people.

Changing Blog Templates is doable

A few weeks ago, I had my “ahh huh” moment for 2011.  I realized that I need to be a builder or at least feel that I’m building something.  I think this is a large separation between business minded people, who in my case typically sell the products that builders (programmers) make.  Currently I am working to get myself more acquainted with the programming, technical-oriented side of business.

After doing some semi-intensive web design reading over the past few weeks, meaning HTML and CSS, I’ve discovered that I actually have the fundamental knowledge to create some decent looking designs!  At least according to my friends.  But honestly speaking, I never knew that modifying the look and feel of templates was so doable.  There is a slight learning curve to understanding what <div> <class=”x”> .header p{ } mean, but in two weeks I have been able to put together some small little demo sites and be able to adjust some of the design properties.

Choose a template that will help you be discovered

From now on, I’m going to tell my peers that want to blog to focus on tools that will help being discovered as opposed to design.  I assume people want to create a blog to share stories in the first place, and so having templates that are SEO optimized is going to help locate an audience.  It’s so much cooler to share thoughts with an actual audience, so why not try to maximize on this opportunity?

I haven’t learned how to make extremely awesome visual effects, yet, but I’m working on it :) slowly but surely, and with the intention of building.

Erupt in my Office

by admin on May 24, 2011 in Blog, Featured, In-office Lifestyle with No comments

If only someone in the office erupted like the Grimsvötn Volcano, among colleagues.

What would that eruption look like?

Someone described a volcano as,

Volcanoes are just like very hot hot tubs. They produce magma, ash and lava. Lava can reach 2000F.

And so if we took each volcanic element and matched them with a personal trait:

  • Produce magma (energy core) – Volcanoes generate violents amount of energy and heat.  You stand close, and you feel it.
  • Ash (far-reaching residue) – Towns nearby become covered.  You don’t stand close, yet still, you feel it.
  • Lava (redefine) – New landscapes are born.  Doesn’t matter where you stood because now you’re standing better.

If someone in the office were to raise the temperature to 2000F, colleagues are going to feel it, locally and externally.  When the the energy becomes high enough, after gathering heaps of enthusiasm, stronger values and strategic visions will be born.

So who’s ready to turn up the heat?

And some amazing video capturing the Iceland Eruptions from Eyjafjallajökull last year. Wonder if we’ll see the same for Grimsvötn

Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull – May 1st and 2nd, 2010 from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.

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