R E F L E C T I O N S

How it works: "StumbleUpon is a discovery engine (a form of web search engine) that finds and recommends web content to its users. Its features allow users to discover and rate Web pages, photos, and videos that are personalized to their tastes and interests using peer-sourcing and social-networking principles." (from Wikipedia)  (My highlighting )  I believe it expands  knowledge and understanding about a subject or situation. But does this limit me to my own personal situation and knowledge? Does it l imit the range and extent of my experience? I'm reluctant to use it because I don't want it to limit my ability to find brand new interests and information. It is good in that I get what I like. But does this prevent me from finding something I never knew about that I might really find interesting? It feels strange to be interacting with a non-human. I suppose that if I look elsewhere for something completely new I'll still be able to find it....

My wife found this first video on YouTube about having birds eat right from your hand.  I was so excited that went out into my backyard to try it today. I turned around and came back inside. It was only 30 degrees with a strong breeze! It will have to wait for a while. This first video looks and sounds better than the second video.  But it does not have very much usable information except to let the birds become comfortable and feel safe with you. I think it's some sort of advertisement. I found this second video to be more practical. I think the most difficult part is having the patience to stay still for a long while.

(c) John Mallozzi Fairy: A small (imaginary?) being of human form  that has magical powers, esp. a female one. (c) John Mallozzi The top images were created by using the online free editing program called FotoFlexor. Here is the link  FotoFlexer Home The link is in the bottom of this blog on my list of    USEFUL SITES TO TRY Then I used the standard Windows Live Photo editing to finish. These are my original photos of my daughter Laurissa when she was very young. I also used them in an earlier post.     Link to the earlier post: My Daughter the Garden Fairy (c) John Mallozzi (c) John Mallozzi

Until several years ago I never knew about the ouroboros.  I find it very strange, a bit frightening yet fascinating. I'm not into some weird cult.  I just wanted to have a look. Here are two interesting videos. In the first video the sound is very soft and the narrator has a heavy accent. In this second video the music is a bit too much but the images are good.

Last night at the Sons of Italy club we played a game called Tombola (Italian Bingo).  It's different from regular Bingo in that you can only win horizontally from left to right, not top to bottom or diagonally. If someone runs out of tokens to cover the numbers he can use the walnuts or almonds that are set out as a snack. Another fun difference is that each number is associated with a meaning which is called out loud. 1 = Italy 13 = Saint Anthony 22 = The madman 21 = The naked woman and so on. It's played in 5 rounds: 1. Ambo: 1st person to cover 2 numbers in a row 2. Terno: 1st person to cover 3 numbers in a row 3. Quaderno: 1st person to cover 4 numbers in a row 4. Quinto: 1st person to cover 5 numbers in a row 5. Tombola: 1st person to cover all 15 numbers on the card It's much easier than it sounds. There is an adult version and a children's version which has less racier meanings to call out. I enjoyed it!

My posting has been slow this week and I think it has to be from the flu shot I had this past Tuesday. Ever since that day my energy has been low.  Yesterday I took a long two hour nap.  I usually don't take naps. That's all for this post. Enjoy the weekend.

Link: Massimo's photos