This Guy Kicks Butt!

And I thought Neo was awesome…forget it…we need to get this Rajini dude and Chuck Norris together.

2009 Grilling Season Opener

Today was the Grilling Season Opener in our house and there is no better way to do that than grilling a fresh, juicy, well seasoned 1.5 lb top sirloin steak accompanied with some red wine. I must confess though, I’m not a big steak eater, but I do enjoy when I get to bite one of those every once in a while. This was actually my first time ever grilling a steak, an American one that is, Venezuelan steaks are way different.

I was a little bit disappointed with the wine though. This was a bottle we bought in a wine tasting at a vineyard in North Carolina and for the price we paid for that bottle it tasted like grape juice gone bad, which in a sense that’s what wine is but this was different, I couldn’t take it. I definitely needed my two-buck chuck for this special occasion.

As you can see in the pictures all I used was sea salt and Mrs. Dash spice blend. I personally think when it comes down to grilling meat you don’t need much. I was really hoping to use my natural wood charcoal grill, I’m a fan of natural wood charcoal; but the weather didn’t cooperate so I had to activate Plan B and get the gas grill out. Other than that, it’s not really hard to take good pictures of a steak on a grill, it just looks good as it is.

One Crazy Summer

This is going to be one crazy season this year, I don’t even know where or how to begin. We usually have a hard time trying to keep our sanity during the summer but this one is going to be just out of this world. First of all, I’m looking forward to go outside and experiment with my new DSLR, then all of the sudden I bought a motorcycle…I don’t even know how to ride a bike, it’s still not even decided if I’m going to be able to keep it, but still. Of course I can’t forget this is also my baby’s first summer…but I also want to improve my golf game…I started playing last year, and I really would like to keep on playing this year. Plus let’s not forget that my mom is visiting from Venezuela and I sill have to mow the lawn…ugh!

So, when and how I’m going to find the time to do all that, I don’t know! I already had to give up softball this year, my heart is still aching about it, I love playing softball. All this is quite overwhelming for someone like me who likes to enjoy simple days filled with nothing. I can’t wait for winter to come!

Original Art

This is what the original art for the blog header looks like, unfortunately the WordPress template I’m using only allows the header to be a certain size.

I’ve been wanting to take this picture of our shed and I finally did it today. There is something captivating about how that plant clings to the wall, but notice it doesn’t cover it all, only part of it and little bit little is taking over. It actually looks nice in the spring when the leaves come out. I really like how it turned out. More of my photography Here.

That’s How The Fight Started – Round 6

I tried to talk my wife into buying a case of Miller Light for $14.95. Instead, she bought a jar of cold cream for $7.95. I told her the beer would make her look better at night than the cold cream.

And that’s when the fight started… 

"What’s Google Reader?", They Asked.

The other day we were dining with our friends and we were talking about blogs and facebook and they asked me “What’s Google Reader?”…The question totally caught me off-guard in so many ways and I did a terrible job explaining it to them. So they probably won’t be using Google Reader even if they could benefit from it.

So, without getting very technical I would like to make a pitch to you my dear reader, you see, if you are reading this blog and you are not using a feed reader then you definitely need one. Google Reader is a feed reader, again, instead of getting technical I’m just going to explain what it does.

Most web sites, blogs, and even craigslist, facebook and twitter have something called RSS Feed, this allows applications like Google Reader keep track of those sites for you so you don’t have to check each one of them everyday. Instead, with Google Reader, you just add the site you want to follow and whenever something new gets posted Google Reader will collect the new content and put it all together for you in one place. These days pretty much anything on the web has RSS Feeds capabilities, so whether you want to be updated with your friends status on Facebook, or new jobs on Craigslist or your grandma’s blog all you have to do is add them all to Google Reader and read the new stuff as it gets posted. That’s basically how I follow everyday over 300 blogs, sites, flickr contacts, news and even craigslist.

The beauty of RSS Feeds is that you can use it in so many different ways, you can add them to your browser, your smartphone or your email client, there are even screensavers that show you RSS Feeds. So there, if you find yourself checking more than three web sites everyday by going one by one from your favorites then you need a feed reader. My favorite is Google Reader but then again, I’m usually bias to all things Google. 

Twitter vs. Facebook – FIGHT!

My mate APR blasted Twitter on his blog, his action compelled me to evaluate my relationship with these tools. This is what I commented on his blog:

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Oh APR, isn’t it cruel not to have anyone comment on your posts?

Now in regards to Twitter vs. Facebook, I think it’s unfair to compare one to the other because although they are competitors they both serve different purposes. You see, when Twitter was new (long before they started talking about it on the news) it was introduced as a microblogging tool, I think that description fits very well, so you as a blogger, to condemn Twitter is like stabbing your little brother how do you like that analogy?

Yes, many people misuse it, but isn’t that the case for many things in life too? You can’t just condemn everyone on Twitter and save Ps Rob, so let’s say it’s like 50/50 the people who use it to share with others and the people who use it for their own ego.

Facebook on the other hand is a tool for connecting and sharing with friends (On Twitter we don’t really have to be friends to follow each other, just like blogging). I’m not 100% into Twitter yet and the main reason is because the site crashes everyday, they were not ready for such growth and are having a hard time keeping up with it.

The other thing I like about Twitter vs. Facebook is that it is smaller, in FB I have almost 400 “friends”, that’s quite overwhelming when you are about to put something in there, you gotta think about everyone who’s gonna get it. On Twitter I only have 14 followers, I love that and I intend to keep it a very small group of people whom I let follow me and vice versa, kinda’ like the circle of trust.

The other thing that makes Twitter different is that it is more designed to be used with your cellphone, you tweet and get tweets through your cellphone whether is an SMS or an application and you rarely have the need to go to the website. Facebook is more designed to be used with a web browser, yes, you can do most things with your cellphone but, honestly, it sucks.

One thing though I love about Twitter is its simplicity, you tweet and that’s it! no stupid quizzes, or groups, or become a fan here or there… The other reason why Twitter is becoming so big is because companies are using it (more than Facebook) to connect with it’s customers. There are countless stories on the internet about people complaining about companies on Twitter and actually getting help immediately from those companies, all thanks to Twitter. Likewise on the personal side of things, people have received help or assistance while in the middle of sticky situations by just tweeting.

You shouldn’t underestimate Twitter, after all Facebook changed its design to look more like Twitter and not the other way around. Yes, that last Facebook redesign that everyone hates, was Facebook trying to remain competitive by looking more like Twitter, I think that says something. Now if you just don’t like Twitter that’s absolutely understandable, but since you asked for opinions.

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So, there you have it…again I’m not 100% into Twitter yet but I can see how it could be very useful…