We at Xahir, pronounced “zah-here”,  (CLICK THIS to learn about us) have enjoyed writing great blog reviews and sharing them with the world, now we are taking a new direction for the time being. Ammble.com is a unique place where anyone can create lists of lasting impression. Click on:

ammble.com

or . . .

about ammble

Come visit, read, and join!

Soooorrrry for being gone. Just haven’t been able to come here. Yikes! My own site. I know, I know! Ah, but everything in its time and all that jazz, blah blah blah.  No time to recap, Halloween, a Pow Wow, just all kinds of stuff. But! —> Here’s a great photo from my friend in China, Erie Yin. He’s got a love for photography and in his recent travels he’s sent me lots of gorgeous photos. I have been wanting to post them, just no time and energy altogether!

More to come, as I can. This is from Jiuzhai Valley National Park. Awesome!! Erie is  a kick-ass photog and I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a career route he favors in the future.

**Ok, ok, here is one more-  from the last batch Erie sent me. I’ll have to add the particulars in at a later time. The village was pretty unique. This grass scene I have on my desktop because of the peaceful feelings it imparts.

Thank you, my friend Erie! For your photos, and your patience. I’ll be in touch!

¡Viva lisapena.com!

Welcome back to the darkER background on which the photos *pop*! Having to bug The Guy about helping me for site problems or issues is just something I think we both could do without. We don’t agree on things as well as we once did but I think this is a win-win choice for each of us.  So, losing my photos in the slider-bar header of the last theme sucked, yeah, but ultimately brought me to another one, “Audacity of Tanish” by Ravi Sarma. His site is Ahren Code. This design looks so unassuming at first but there’s a lot of awesome goodies tucked away. (Still researching the meaning of its name, too.) Here are some cool screenshots for those interested.

**Now I had to use another one until I’m able to resolve a permissions issue. I still like the Tanish one but you’re now reading in a “Rustic” environment. **Ah, sorry, I was able to do a quick fix a few days ago (it’s now Mon 9/24), thanks to Ravi’s help! Forgot to update. Yesssss, we are now in the “Audacity of Tanish” theme

I’ve kind of taken off writing for a while, even from work at Xahir, but will soon get back to a full schedule. Summer was rather sedate yet quite busy in another way. I spent quite a bit of time with the twins, just being with them. I don’t regret not signing up for everything and having to stay on a packed schedule, but with writing and other obligations, the twins’ being home FT was quite something to juggle, lol.

Anyway, I’ll be exploring this theme more in the coming weeks and playing around with WP features to maximize its beauty. functionality.  Okay, both of those things.

For those of you with whom I’ve fallen out of touch, I apologize. I have just been quite exhausted and my time accounted for by all kinds of people and things. Drop me a line if you like, post a comment, come check out my work if you’re itching to find some cool stuff to read and wanna stretch your mind.

I’ll write more about it soon but Xahir is happening now!

Don’t be shy, like us (XAHIR) on g+ here!

Charles Wallace, “Gangnam Style”? lol

Erin Grace loving her pony!

Giant Pikachu that barely made it home in the car! (Photo by Charles Wallace)

Charles Wallace with Chad, the nice boy who gave Pikachu to the twins.

Erin Grace thunderbolts Charles Wallace’s hair with the Baby Pikachu she won.

Awesome lettering we had to capture.

One attempt of many (unsuccessful ones) to win that Giant Pikachu!

“We got it!!” [Thanks again, Chad! ]

Stopping by the Eiffel Tower to show Pikachu babies the sights.

Checkin’ out the fireworks w/The Gramster! (Grammie lasted all day and night, just rockin’ the chair to save energy. Yeah, she walks!)

Overall a fun, FUN day!!!

Posted from WordPress for Android

My apologies for the change. I’m researching what could have gone wrong with my WordPress update. As regular visitors know, the black background is gone and so are my images in the header. Hope to have this resolved soon. Thanks for your patience.

After the sad content of recent writings, celebration of life is a welcome change.  I’ve met some nice people anonymously on a great app, Random Mate, and this 3-time combat veteran gave me permission to post this photo. His twins were 1-month old at the time. It’s always cool to see fathers with babies but this is especially poignant to me for obvious reasons When asked his name, he didn’t want any special recognition and declined specifics.  Thank you for everything, “US Army Veteran”!

Posted from WordPress for Android

Sho Funai, 23, killed by hit-and-run driver 3/11/12

As you may have been following, Tina Tajima has been giving us news of Japan’s situation after Fukushima when possible. (For Japan info click on the Empower tab above and scroll down, or here). Her efforts at aiding her countrymen have been tireless and enormous. I am in awe of her energy and drive.

She’s been focusing on her health for a bit now but still, she has time to assist friends. In her email to friends she’s asked:

. . . I’m writing today to ask you to sign the petition for my friend’s friend who was killed in a car accident. Please read the following and sign it online. And please forward it to anyone you can think of who believes in justice.

It’s a very sad, unfortunate case. Sho Funai was run down, left to die, by a then-18-year-old who deliberately fled the scene.  Nikolette Kristina Gallo admitted to drinking and smoking pot prior to and, due to legal complications,  has been charged with hit-and-run only.

For having mowed down a human being while under some serious influence, illegally so, and leaving him without any kind of help whatsoever to die alone, Nikolette Kristina Gallo is facing probation and alternatives to custody.

The miscarriage of justice is incredible. Please have a look at the details here at change.org and decide if signing the petition and passing it on is right for you.

Thanks!

Hey y’all! My friend Martina’s traveling now and sent me this awesome pic taken in Roosevelt, Utah on the 4th. Her friend owns one of the teepees. How neat is that? Enjoy!

Posted from WordPress for Android

So, I walk in the mornings quite regularly. And my city is rich in Chinese culture with a high Chinese population. It’s not uncommon to see Tai Chi in parks or Falun Gong (Falun Dafa) being practiced or other rhythmic things. Sometimes it looks like a bunch of folks doing the Electric Slide but in slo-mo. Other times people have swords and fans they use in their movements . . . it’s really beautiful and peaceful to observe.

The problem is, it’s hard to share it with others not with me on these walks! I don’t want to be staring and I want to take pictures of them often. The people I have politely approached, however, politely declined.

So is it ethically wrong of me to take pictures when I can? Sadness, though. I had to get all paparazzo, hiding here and ducking when they swayed towards me during an exercise. Not an easy feat, I tell you, with a droid cam that doesn’t *snap* as instantly as an iPhone but hey, who’s complaining?

Well, perhaps I’ll put the goal to get some good pix on pause for a while, now that I’ve these shots to share.  I just want others to get a glimpse of the pockets of beauty that make up L.A. Enjoy!

-Alhambra, CA 7/6/12

Posted from WordPress for Android

Happy 6th Birthday to my special babies! After a weekend-long celebration I’m ready for a vacation

Posted from WordPress for Android