Farfaraway...

Question for fellow Blackberry users

nobody@vox.com(Farfaraway) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:56:28 -0800

I got my first Blackberry last week and I LOVE it. Wish I'd done it ages ago, and well worth the extra $30 a month I'll add to my phone bill. But there are some things I'm still trying to figure out.

My biggest issue is the appointment calendar. I loaded the backup software onto my computer so that when I synch my phone, everything's backed up...but it appears that there's no way to view my calendar on my computer using the backup software. I think I can only view my calendar on my phone, which of course is a problem if I lose the phone, ruin it or it gets stolen...meaning I have no way to retrieve appointments remotely.

Does anyone know if I can somehow view my calendar on my computer using the software? Help!

P.S. I know I can call Verizon for help with this but I'm lazy.

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I heart morons

nobody@vox.com(Farfaraway) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:59:24 -0700

Seen today on the back of a circa-1980s Ford pickup truck window: a faux Calvin (a la Calvin and Hobbes) peeing on the words "Liberal Ideology." There's so much there that I can't even comment. Thanks for making my day, stoopid.

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Stupid effing cats

nobody@vox.com(Farfaraway) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:36:47 -0700

I have a cat stalking my birdfeeders, damn it. He's a big fat calico who's hanging out underneath my single boxwood, waiting for the chance to pounce on the groundfeeding birds. I need to come up with a way to block him out of his little hidey-hole down there. This morning I chased him all the way down my side yard and into the alley, and yesterday I chased him out three times. My neighborhood, so close to downtown and very urban, is full of feral cats that have nothing better to do than crap on my lawn and wait to kill my songbirds. Aside from modifying the bottom of that shrub so he can't get in there, I'm going to start sending Basil out after him. If he can get his mouth on him, he'll kill him, which I will gladly allow.

On a different birdfeeding note, I had my first Carolina wren yesterday. Super cute busybodies with stick-up tails like chipmunks, wrens are. It perched on my porch railing and methodically scooped up safflower seeds from one end to another (incidentally, it's the reason I realized I had a cat problem...it suddenly swooped up into the tree while I watched. Birds have a very particular way of fleeing when a predator is present, so this little guy notified me of my problem. Thanks, wren!).

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And on to breakfast...

nobody@vox.com(Farfaraway) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 08:06:09 -0700

This absolutely delicious breakfast sandwich came from the Flat-Belly Diet Cookbook that I posted about the other day:

Toasted English muffin spread with 2 tbsp. almond butter and 1 tbsp. orange marmalade, topped with 4 thin apple slices, then put together like a sandwich. AMAZING! And only 345 calories to boot...

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Best. Lunch. Ever.

nobody@vox.com(Farfaraway) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:22:50 -0700

Pan-seared garlic pistachio panko-encrusted tilapia.

Steamed broccoli and cauliflower with Italian herbs, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.

A glass of coconut milk.

YUM!

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Awesome cookbook

nobody@vox.com(Farfaraway) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:31:27 -0700

Flat Belly Diet! Cookbook

Liz Vaccariello

This is an amazing cookbook...super healthy and tasty recipes. I just got it at the library today after seeing some of the recipes on the Today show a few weeks back, and the dishes they showcased looked mouth-watering. I will definitely be buying it. I got it not because I'm interested in dieting, but because I'm always looking for healthy alternatives and new variations on healthy meals, and it's hard to find a good cookbook. Super excited to try some of the recipes!

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Thought for the day, circa 1948

nobody@vox.com(Farfaraway) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:32:37 -0700

"But wherever the truth may lie, this much is crystal-clear: our bigger-and-better society is now like a hypochondriac, so obsessed with its own economic health as to have lost the capacity to remain healthy. The whole world is so greedy for more bathtubs that it has lost the stability necessary to build them, or even to turn off the tap. Nothing could be more salutary at this stage than a little healthy contempt for a plethora of material blessings."

~Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

Note: Hmmm...do we think Aldo was onto something?

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The Birdie Diner is now open

nobody@vox.com(Farfaraway) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:34:11 -0700

Urban birdies are obviously more daring than their country counterparts. My feeders have only been up two days now, and they are hopping! (no pun intended) When I lived in the country, it took the better part of a week for a variety of birds to discover newly-placed feeders. This morning I saw chickadees, the first goldfinch, mourning doves, rock doves and house sparrows. I've heard white-breasted nuthatches and downy woodpeckers but haven't seen any yet. I'm a little sad that I can't see the ground from my windows, which means that this winter, I'll miss out on watching cardinals, juncos and sparrows feed. If I stand in the doorway I can see them, though.

Yay for birds! :-)

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The first visitors

nobody@vox.com(Farfaraway) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 06:54:46 -0700

The chickadees have found the feeders! Yahoo!

So far no one appears to be visiting the safflower feeder, the suet feeder or the thistle feeder, but they'll be here, all in due time. I was so tickled this morning to look out and see a round little chickadee removing one seed at a time and caching them in the tree branches. Now if he'll just tell all his birdie friends...

Update: as I hit "save" for this post, I looked up to a see a house sparrow nibbling at the feeder! Normally I wouldn't be happy to see a house sparrow, of all birds, but I'm thrilled to see they're finding the feeders!

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Birdfeeders are back in action!

nobody@vox.com(Farfaraway) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:29:28 -0700

I am SO excited; I have two birdfeeders up! More are on the way; I just realized that two of my old favorites are too worn to be useful, so I'm going to buy replacements this weekend. I just loaded up on seed this afternoon. Wahoo!

I started feeding birds over five years ago at the suggestion of my friend J. I had just moved into a new house and I was depressed and overwhelmed by all the work the house required, along with a couple new house disasters that included the basement flooding three weeks after I moved in. I remember driving on the highway, talking to J about how I wasn't enjoying this new house at all except for a pretty yellow bird that had been hanging out at my office window. She told me it was a goldfinch, and that I needed to go out and buy a finch feeder and I'd see lots more. She told me what kind of feeder to buy, what kind of seed, and where to buy all the supplies. I always tell her that information was the best gift she ever gave me!

Last winter, I didn't do much birdfeeding because of my divorce. I could barely take care of myself and my dogs, let alone the backyard birds. I did fill the feeders during the coldest part of the year and I scattered seed on snowstorm days, but I've really missed enjoying the birdy activity and feeling like I was doing my part to contribute to nature. I'm so glad to be back in action! I've only ever fed birds in the country, so the "urban birdfeeding experience" is going to be quite a change, I'm sure.

I started doing all sorts of reading on feeding birds, and also joined a wonderful citizen science project hosted by Cornell University, Project FeederWatch (Vox is being temperamental again...here's the link: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/index.html). I watch my feeders and simply count the number of birds, for anywhere from a few minutes to several hours over a two-day period every two weeks. It's very relaxing to sit down and tally birds, and also watch them chow down in the dead of winter.

I've seen some amazing birds in my yard since I started feeding, including a juvenile Northern Harrier, an Indigo Bunting, a pair of Eastern Towhees and a pair of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. The goldfinches and chickadees are cute, chatty little busybodies, and the flocks of cardinals in the winter brighten up the grayest of days. I never, ever get bored watching those feeders!

I'm proud to say that I've gotten my sister feeding birds, and she's shared the passion with her stepdaughter. My baby niece's nursery is decorated in birdies (which makes me a little sad, since I would someday love to do a birdy theme in my own daughter's nursery...). Sissy and I have shared many bird and squirrel stories over the years since I put up that first finch feeder.

If you want to put up a feeder, here are some tips:

buy high-quality feeders made by companies like Duncraft, Droll Yankees or Audubon. Don't waste your money on the cheap feeders. They won't last. Spring for the good ones!
if squirrels are raiding your feeders and eating you out of house and home, buy safflower seed. It has a bitter taste that squirrels don't like. You can also try feeding the squirrels, too.
place your feeders where you can actually see them and where they're convenient to fill in the dead of winter. It's no fun to feed the birds if your feeders are so far from the windows that you can't enjoy the birdy activities and you don't want to refill them because they're too far away.
don't wait until the snow flies to put up feeders. Birds start scoping out food sources in August, while the temps are still warm and food supply is plentiful. You'll get more birds at your feeders over the course of the winter if you start feeding in early autumn.

Give it a try...I promise you'll love it!

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