iPhone app for bird watchers

this afternoon i was weeding again...trying to catch up with the henbit that has enveloped many parts of my poor neglected flower garden: i know it's in there somewhere! i did leave a little of the weed in front of the rabbit's door, as its supposed to be cold tonight. there were a lot of birds out there with me...most of them i recognized, but the little sparrows are hard to differentiate: they are all so stripe-y in browns and beiges...then one popped up on the tutuer in front of me and sang a fantastic song! i was determined to i.d. this one since i had such a clear view, and pulled out my iPhone and opened my birds app. i knew this bird was some type of sparrow, and since it sang, i figured it could possibly be a 'song sparrow', so i typed that into the search box. the photo that turned up looked like the little guy and it had a song sound sample...which i pushed. the little song sparrow flew right at me and tried to land on my arm! after i screamed (not too loudly!), it veered left and landed on a branch above me and belted out it's song. what just happened? i hit the song button again on the app, and once again he tried to land on me, but choose to land near me instead, and sing the same song again! turns out the bird is attracted to the recording: some bird watchers actually use their iPhone bird apps to attract birds down from trees...not me, though: the little song sparrow seemed genuinely disappointed there was no mate there.

fishing for striped bass on etsy

all the mister has been talking about lately is 'fishing'...striped bass fishing in particular. striped bass season opened up two weeks ago on the chesapeake, and he hasn't been able to go. he just sits there on his computer, looking at boats and photos of fish other people caught. inspired by his fish gibberish, i made this enameled striped bass pendant hanging from a sterling silver line for fish lovers everywhere.

cafe asia

i had a delicious-and large-plate of sushi at cafe asia tonight...havent been here in a while: it's still delicious!

a walk in the woods

i went for a lovely walk in rock creek park with the mister and oto today. the green canopy is so high, made up of many very tall trees including tulip poplar  and sycamores. the ground was covered in a thick, cush-y emerald plant: marsh marigold. marsh marigold will be covered in yellow blooms in a few weeks, even in shady areas. it is a native flora in maryland, and also sold at nurseries and online as a quick, fast growing ground cover for difficult garden spots. it seems a little aggressive. best in bogging-type areas. i also saw mayapples in bloom.

electronic music's most important documentary?

it's sunday: you ain't got nothing to do. after bloody mary brunch-and possibly a nap-head to moca for a viewing of the techno documentary 'speaking in code'...and free drinks (?) plus a dj session...now, that's the way to start the week off right.

roscoe is the cutest puppy ever!

last week we took care of the most precious pup: roscoe! he was so bad, and completely untrained (except potty), but those gorgeous green eyes made everything allright. poor oto had slober on his head for days!

modern lighting design 2010

this year's european design shows-including salone de mobile and the light+building show-  featured lots of cool light fixtures:
i want them all!

orange and organic 'sola' from david trubridge; the spiral 'swing' pastel pendant light from japan's monochro design studio; origami-inspired diamond shaped star pendant from neo design; 'crown' is your room's crowning glory from formfjord.

top chef dc

well, everybody knows by now that the next cycle of top chef will be from dc: yeah! i am not surprised: the taste profiles have been elevated to the upper level here in the nation's capital, and i am thrilled! i moved here as a kid from the gourmet ghetto: berkeley. and, not that my taste buds were the most sophisticated or anything back then, but i loved fresh, seasonal foods and things werent that fresh here in dc: thankfully things have changed for the better! due to dc's cultural hodge-podge, great food can be found everywhere. i live near wheaton-the most ethnically diverse part of the greater metropolitan area- and from peruvian chicken to vietnamese pho and then over to fresh italian pasta and more-it's all here. even carla from top chef season 5 is nearby. downtown has my favorite burger joint-good stuff eatery-operated by chef spike from top chef season 4 and a favorite of our fantastic first lady, michele. top chef masters contestant art smith mans art and soul on capitol hill and iron chef america winner jose andres owns multiple eateries in one of my favorite neighborhoods, penn quarter/chinatown. one of them, zaytina is run by top chef contestant mike isabella. the dc area also houses perennial award winner the inn at little washington as well as top chef runner up michael voltaggio's volt in frederick, maryland and nora's, near dupont circle. the list of great chefs and good eats goes on and on...check washingtonian magazine's top 100 restaurants guide and/or 100 best cheap eats for ideas. yummy!

butterfly chair

let butterflies migrate to your living room on this papillon chaise by d.sign21. the designer envisioned hundreds of butterflies chasing each other: i am not sure if it comes in custom colors, but i like the concept!

via contemporist.

octopus attacks paparazzi: steals camera

octopus appear to be too smart to eat.

white house garden tour

the national park service will distribute free tickets for the white house garden tour starting at 8:00am this morning. tour the jacqueline kennedy garden, the rose garden, the white house kitchen garden as well as the south lawn of the white house from 10-3 today.

my neighbor is nuts

i am not sure what precipitated this installation...at first i thought it was halloween, but it remained and then changed at thanksgiving...then christmas. did they clean out their garage, find this old wig head and not want to part with it? oh...its up-cycling!, i declared. but then she got a new sparkly outfit for new years. and, yes: red and pink for valentine's day, followed by green for the st. patty's celebration. thank god easter came and went, because this fantastic spring planting outfit appeared this week. oh, man: cinco de mayo is next.

how to travel with your dog

does your dog love to go for car rides? bet he wont once he's gone around the block in this dog sack! interesting concept obviously conceived by a dog hater...or allergy sufferer, i guess. the dog would probably have a blast, catching all of that air. but squished dog is not my cup of tea as the beast would be an easy target for the myriad of stupid, distracted drivers just looking for something interesting to crash into.

sauca high tech food cart

while having a few cocktails at poste in the hotel monaco, i spied out the window the saucamobile, the latest mobile eatery to hit washington dc's streets. combining a taquieria with a truck is not a new concept, but sauca is apparently a complete lifestyle brand that will fulfill my every need... i can even make international calls from the republic of sauca's pay phone: wonder if they have the number for the fojol brothers of merlindia. the saucamobile has been getting great reviews from patrons so i am looking forward to trying it...especially the fish tacos.

pansies

pansies are so awesome: why are they associated with light-weights? my first flower box planting of the year is pansies! why? last year when the weather broke, i planted amazingly decorative sweet potatoes: 9 inches of rain followed by a freeze later: my potatoes were dead...so this year: i am starting with the velvety flowers that can cope with the unpredictable ups and downs we call 'weather'.

damn, it's hot!

last year at (about) this time, we had snow: not today, though.

happy easter

"the ten commandments" made with

bunny peeps...why not?

@tacos el gringo

must be sunday...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

design something every day challenge

wow...i have definitely been designing something every day lately...just cant say what. let's just say, it will be available in the app store soon, and can be accessed from your iPhone,  iTouch and  iPad. more details soon, but check out my first app, master gardener, in the mean time: designed and developed with my brother.

happy st. iPad day!

did you spend the night in line at your local apple store, or wait behind the velvet rope at the same this morning for an iPad? did you pre-order the iPad through the apple store earlier this week? i did not.  i am hopeful someone lovely buys one for me for my  birthday. im a leo-virgo, fyi.