Category: Things I Like

Get My Articles to Your Cell Phone – Free!

Ok, check this out! You can get all of the best of my articles – from here, and The Internet Patrol (with a little Adventures in Raw Food thrown in) – free – direct to your cell phone!

The site which provides this nifty service is called Plusmo. When you click on the image of the cell phone over there to the right – the one with my picture on it – it will take you to the Plusmo site. There you will be prompted to let them send their little software app to your phone – it’s completely easy and safe, I did it myself before I set this up – and it is so cool!

Once you give them your information, you will get a text message on your phone which asks permission to install the Plusmo application. It’s basically a very tiny text-based browser, which will put the articles right on your phone – in a very easy to read, very browsable form.

It’s awesome!

You can add other article feeds to it too, of course, but..well, start with mine. 🙂

Go on, click on the phone on the right. You know you want to.

Our Copperopolis Anniversary – Staying at Saddle Creek in Copperopolis

As you know from earlier posts, this was our copper anniversary. What you, and my husband, didn’t know, was that part of my gift to him this year was an overnight trip to historic Copperopolis, home of the copper rush in California, staying at the gorgeous Saddle Creek resort. Yes, there was a copper rush in California, and indeed it was extremely important. At one point in time, Copperopolis supplied a majority of the copper needed for the Civil War, in fact.

I’d booked us a bungalow at Saddle Creek – a golfing resort next door to Copperopolis. No, we don’t golf, but that doesn’t matter. Saddle Creek is absolutely amazing in its own right.

These were the views from the sitting area right outside our bungalow door:

And if those don’t convince you that we were just this side of heaven, check out these – taken just outside our door near sunset:

The public areas of Saddle Creek are amazing too! Here is the lodge:

Here’s a view of our room:

And this is Reid, the bungalow manager, bringing cookies to our room as part of our turndown service! How awesome is that?! In fact, Reid, and all of the staff at Saddle Creek, were just wonderful, and so helpful! They really made this such a wonderful experience from start to finish!:

I should also mention that the restaurant was excellent – and the prices very reasonable for what you get. Nice atmosphere, excellent food – decent prices. What more could you ask for?

Now, let’s turn our attention to Copperopolis proper. Copperopolis, as I mentioned, is where the copper rush started in California. As it turns out, the good citizens of Calaveras County, where Copperopolis was eventually founded, called all that red stuff in the ground “iron rust”. They had no idea that it was copper ore. It wasn’t until one Hiram Hughes happened by, and noticed the similarity to similar ore lodes in Nevada with which he was familiar, that the fact that the area was rich in copper became known. Hughes staked a claim (named the Napoleon claim, for his son, William Napoleon Bonaparte Hughes (yes, really), and the rush was on.

Copperopolis, originally called “Copper Canyon”, and then changed to Copperopolis a year or so later, went from a copper claim on a hill to a booming mining town. During the civil war Copperopolis supplied a majority of copper for the war effort.

All that is left now is a few of the original buildings – the church, the armory (now used as the Copperopolis community center), and the Copper Consolidated Mining Company Office (now home to an olive oil company and the Copperopolis Internet company).

The folks are really friendly – in fact they were having a town crab feed in the Armory when we happened by, and they came out and invited us in to join them!

Here are some pictures from historic Copperopolis:

There is an excellent page on the history of Copperopolis here.

3 Things You Should Know

I am very pleased to announce my newest baby, the weekly podcast, “Three Things You Should Know”!

“Three Things You Should Know� is the weekly podcast conversation that will make you say “Hey, I didn’t know that!�
No topic is too big or small, too mundane or arcane, for these two to tackle. Learn about such diverse subjects as travel insurance, pumpkin cheesecake, worms that live inside the human body, and child support!

“Three Things You Should Know� is published weekly, and available through iTunes and this site. Produced by the award-winning Anne P. Mitchell, Esq, and Bryan McCullough of 617pg.com, tune in and listen to the 3 things you should know!

So please, check it out, and let me know what you think!

Three Things You Should Know

USB Rechargable Batteries from USBCell by Moixa – How Cool!

Ok, this is so neat! Rechargable batteries that you can charge via USB! Created by Moixa (which is “axiom” backwards), and marketed under the brandname “USBCell”, these are just wicked cool.

Presently only AA batteries are available, but they promise to have soon AAA, C, D and 9 volt, and are even planning on various cell phone batteries.

Here’s the AA battery.

Unfortunately, they are currently only available in the UK, but you can sign up at the USBCell site to be notified when they start retailing in the U.S.. Or you can ask your friends in the UK to bring some over the next time they visit.

Now, where can I find a 12-port USB hub?

Sundown on the Edmund Fitzgerald

Last night I got to see Gordon Lightfoot live, in concert. It was fantastic. What a man – what a storyteller!

The story – and there is one – is to come, but here are some live treats:

Gordon Lightfoot singing Sundown

Gordon Lightfoot singing The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

[Warning: This song is cut short near the end, as an usher, apparently thinking that I was about to take a picture, made me put the camera away.]

More Comfortable Shoes

Ok, they are actually boots. But they are so comfortable that they are like wearing slippers outdoors. And they have the cutest tree on the bottom of the soul.

I really like Eugene, Oregon, Comfortable Shoe Capital of the United States.

These Shoes Are Really Keen!

I just have to take a minute to rave about my new shoes.

We went on a road trip up the coast of California and Oregon, up through to Seattle, and back down around I-5 (stopping to take in Mount Saint Helen’s – that was amazing).

We stopped in Eugene, where I bought the most comfortable pair of shoes in the world. They have a lot of comfortable shoes in Eugene. But these ones really are truly super-duper comfortable.

They are made by a shoe company called “Keen”, and the model is Zermatt.

Not only are they incredibly comfortable, but they are the lightest pair of walking shoes I’ve ever seen.

Here’s a picture of them.

Ohmygawd…Chantico Chocolate from Starbucks is a Little Bit of Heaven in a Cup!

If you don’t like chocolate, you will.

If you do like chocolate, this is bliss.

If, like me, you are a chocolate jezebel, have the paramedics standing by and be prepared to slip into a swoon as the frissons dance up and down your spine, your eyes roll inward involuntarily, and your toes curl.

Yes, Chantico chocolate, rolling out at Starbucks tomorrow, is Just That Good.

I don’t know where they found this stuff, but there are a lot of things I’d do to find out.

It is very reminiscent of Spanish hot chocolate – thick and rich – almost like drinking a thin warm chocolate pudding – in fact I asked my connection before-hand if it would remind me of Spanish hot chocolate, and they replied Continue reading “Ohmygawd…Chantico Chocolate from Starbucks is a Little Bit of Heaven in a Cup!” →

Take a Moment to Vote – No, Not for Them, for Guy’s Book!

Many of you will remember that I recently reviewed and sang high praises for Guy Kawasaki’s new book, “The Art of the Start”. (If you don’t remember, or haven’t read it, see here.)

Now you can help to get this awesome and most deserving of books on Fast Company’s reading list!

Please stop by at the link below, and if you see no reason not to (and taking my word for it, every reason to), please vote for Guy’s book!

Here’s the link: www.fastcompany.com/keyword/books.