stewardship

Windmill palm

Believe it or not, work on the exterior landscaping is still ongoing... some six months after it began.  It has been worth it though, as the back patio, side entrance, and front walkways are starting to look incredibly awesome.  There is still some work remaining, but we hit a major milestone today, having received and installed most of the major plants and trees.  The patio and walkways were looking pretty barren these last few months with no greenery, but now that we've got the plants in it actually has transformed into an amazing tropical themed paradise, literally overnight.

Our plants came from various sources, from the highly corporate Home Depot and Lowe's to Costco to the local gigantic wholesaler called Devil Mountain Nursery.  Princess V really took the project to heart, merrily zipping off to various locations to pick up plants in her Scion tC hatchback.  The tC has continued to amaze us with its versatility and hauling capacity.

Some green friends ready for planting!

Sago palms and other tropical looking plants

Mediterranean Fan Palm

The other amazing thing I've witnessed is V's newfound devotion to procuring and tending to all the new plants we've recently brought home.  It has certainly been a substantial investment to obtain all these plants, and simply on that basis it behooves us to take good care of them.  But it's been remarkable seeing how motivated she has been in scooting around town looking for the best plants to build our dream garden and being all into things like drip irrigation and fertilizer.  Let's hope she sticks with it and helps our garden flourish into a nice tropical retreat as time goes on.

passing

Carroll Shelby

1923-2012

Race driver, sports car builder and all-American automotive legend Carroll Shelby is dead at 89.  Father of the Shelby Cobra, the iconic Ford GT350, and plenty other fantastic amalgams of sheetmetal and horsepower.
For more of his life story and tribute, visit Autoblog:
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/05/11/carroll-shelby-1923-2012/

The newest production Ford Shelby GT500 was recently unveiled, and it offers an unprecedented level of performance-for-the-buck.  $55K, 662hp, and the ability to go over 200 MPH.  Just wow.
http://www.leftlanenews.com/new-car-buying/ford/shelby-gt500/

Speaking of over 200 MPH, one of my favorite Shelby stories is actually a comedy routine by Bill Cosby, entitled, appropriately, "200 MPH".  "Oh wow look at them PIIIIIPES!!!  Coming out of the car, oh wow!"  Worth a listen if you're either a Shelby or a Cosby fan...

decolletage

I've given the blog a design makeover, starting with one of the standard "simple" templates but of course tweaking it with my own style.  I guess you could say it's a fresh look and a reflection of my current sensibilities.

Design and style have been on my mind lately... thinking about things from cars to photography to landscaping.  One of the sites I stumbled upon has been great inspiration and is appropriately named, linxspiration.  The tagline currently reads "Look Classy - Live Classy".  It interestingly enough, intermingles images (usually with very little or no accompanying words) of things like technology, cars, fashion, architecture, and women.  Usually very scantily clad women, which makes me sort of question the "Classy" tagline.  Though perhaps the absence of total nudity is what keeps it classy.  I'm tempted to finish this off with an image of Ron Burgundy, but at the risk of being a hypocrite I will instead feature one of the hotties spotted on the site.

hubba hubba.

MCA

Adam Yauch (aka MCA) of the Beastie Boys has died at age 47.  Wow that is yet another shock to the mind, reminding me of just how old I am getting.  I remember buying the Beasties' Licensed to Ill album, that was the very first rap record (yes, it was a vinyl record!) I ever bought when I was in 7th grade.

Some useless BeastieBoys trivia.  Did you know that the number on the tail of the plane from the album cover (3MTA3) reads backwards in a mirror as EATME?  I didn't even know that until last month when I read it in an Automobile Mag article.

RIP Adam and thanks for all the great music and memories.

Adam Yauch Dies (LA Times)