Author brilliantviewpoint

My idea of a vacation… Finland declares phone-free zone on Ulko-Tammio Island

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I just read a great article on a vacation with no phones. Well, that’s the idea. Finland has declared that this summer they want tourists to enjoy the island of Ulko-Tammio, a national park, know as the “happiest country in the world” without using their phones. YES, without using their phones.

This was music to my ears. I’m tired of phones and constant picture taking. I just want to RELAX. The idea of going to a National Park and enjoying nature as we did “before” cell phones sounds marvelous. I talked with other friends, they feel the same. The constant pictures/selfies takes away from enjoying “the moment.”

I went to Google to see “where” Ulko-Tammio is as I have not traveled to this area. As you see, it’s very far North. My daughter was in Norway last December. She said it took a couple of flights to get there. Not always easy to make the connections, less flights, etc. However, once in Norway, so beautiful.

So, let’s see what happens. I do feel that the right people who want to enjoy nature will gladly put their phones aside. Laughing, wouldn’t this be funny. You are walking in the forest, you decide you just “have to have” the photo of a bird and you hear on a microphone, “Miss, this is a phone-free zone, please put cell phone away. PLEASE put cell phone away! Have a great day!”

Ah, but without my cell phone, how would I take a photo to PROVE I was there?? Wait, I could photoshop the perfect photo, you’d NEVER know! Then I could use AI to write my post. You see where I’m going here?

Finally, a happy and interesting story in the news!

New adventures await…cell phone free!

Boston – Titanic tour, missing submersible, 5 people. The Search is on!

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Did you know people were paying over $200K to tour the Titanic wreckage, which is 13,000 feet deep in the Atlantic ocean? This latest tour left on Sunday. It was reported lost after one hour forty-five minutes. It takes about 2.5 hours to reach the Titanic’s wreckage. The submersible had 96 hours of oxygen when it left. The media says there are five people on board the vessel.

This is a scary situation. I’ve always thought that to be down in a submarine for months on end would be claustrophobic. Imagine a smaller vessel that has reported technical problems in the past.

There is a lot to discuss on this topic as we sit and wait “hoping” they are found.

Would you want to go on a tour of the Titanic if money were no issue?

Exercising: Found my old Ipod… music changes our moods!

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Life is funny. I went through a drawer and found my old Ipod. I knew there was good music on there and different podcasts I used to listen to, so found my headphones and went out walking.

It was GREAT, so many songs I haven’t listened to in a long time.

This one by Freddie Stroma came up, “Possibilities.” It’s a really sweet sounding song. I was going to share the song from YouTube, but it looks like YouTube might be taking our “sharing” options away, at least for THIS song.

Happy exercising — Enjoy!

Great advertising – Pain for Sale…

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My friend and I were driving in the car this weekend when she burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny,” I said, keeping my eye on the road.

“THIS sign for tattoos,” she said.

Luckily, she took a quick photo, so I could see it. She really had good eye sight. From a distance, you have to squint your eyes to read the sign. I zeroed in, so you could see it better.

What a clever advertising idea. Tattoos are painful.

Having worked in advertising for a long time, I really enjoy seeing “humorous” signs.

This one was a WINNER! Now to find out, does it bring in business?

Exercising – Window cleaning with an audio book!

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People ask me, how do you get things done? I look at them in surprise. Why, I multi-task, of course. I can do a zillion things at one time. Like a video in full speed. It’s true.

This weekend, for example, I needed to clean my windows, but I also needed to go walking. The weather was so nice, I wanted to read my book at the park. As I was thinking about what “choice” to make, I realized I could listen to an audio book while I cleaned the windows and when I walked. BRILLIANT IDEA!

The key is the narrators . I started searching the library for books. Luckily, we can play a sample, so it was an immediate thumbs up or thumbs down.

By chance, I found The Crimson Thread by Kate Forsyth. The storyline is good, set in Crete during WWII, so I could learn a little bit about their culture. I was pleasantly surprised with a multi cast of narrators. Normally, there is just one narrator. I’m always amused how narrators are fantastic at portraying a woman’s voice, a man, a child, a grandparent, etc. — it’s really entertaining — and that they remember throughout the book what voice they need to use for each character.

If you’re not a fan of audio, you should give it a try. Gee, you can garden, wash your car, chop vegetables while listening to a good book. Definitely worth it!

Share what you’ve been reading. I’m always on the lookout for something new to read.

Improve Mental Health: Watch “Bulletproof Heart” on MHz Choice

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Our mental health depends on what we feed into our brains, right. I’ve stopped watching the news. I only do a quick scan online of daily news events to be sure there hasn’t been something “big” that happened. Otherwise, I pass on doom and gloom, never anything positive.

Last night, I was in one of those moods. You know, where your brain could go either way, ie negative / sad or happy / uplifting. Why does this happen? I don’t know, but we have to IMMEDIATELY decide what path we are going on. I had a choice to make. I decided no news! Instead…

ENTER MHz Choice. A lot of their shows are mysteries. What I like is that they have a category for mysteries without violence, for simple folk, like me. Some violence is OK, but I was trying to avoid the news, remember.

Being Italian background, I thought, why not look at the Italian shows. I enjoy hearing the Italian language spoken. I did a quick scan, Bullteproof Heart came up. At first I thought, hum… was it going to be “too slow” or “too boring?” We don’t know unless we look at the Trailer, right.

I was pleasantly surprised. It’s such a cute show. The Italian conversation and expressions, put me in such a warm hearted mood. A news reporter, Bruno Palmieri (Gigi Proietti) is about to retire, then something happens (you have to watch to see) and he continues to work. Can’t give it all a way.

Here’s a good scene from YouTube:

YouTube: Bulletproof Heart on MHz Choice

The English subtitles are nice and clear. Although, they say you improve your Italian better if you listen and read subtitles in Italian at the same time, but sometimes they talk too fast!

ENJOY!

Did you get rid of that clown doll?

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This weekend I saw my parents. I was visiting for Mother’s Day. They are in their 80s, inevitably our conversation turned to different memories. I’m not sure why, but we started talking about toys we had as kids. I asked my mother if she had FINALLY gotten rid of that clown doll my twin brother had. It was scary looking. For the longest time, my mother had kept it in this trunk of hers.

I always had a bit of a fright when I opened that trunk, and there was that doll with the scary grin. She said she had given it to my brother. I hope he gave it away. We discussed how some people have a real fear of clowns. I don’t have a fear of them, I just didn’t like that doll. It was a plush type of doll. It came out during the popularity of the “Bozo the Clown” show. Anyone remember him? I never liked that show either.

My mother loved the Raggedy Ann dolls. Coming from Italy, they didn’t have dolls that looked like that, so she was always collecting them. She said, just like clowns, there we people who found these dolls scary. Really, I would not have thought that.

So, what doll, stuffed animal or toy did you or your kids dislike growing up?

Baseball – What do you think, a vintage Cubs hat?

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Baseball season is in full swing. I’m not a huge sports fan, meaning I’m not watching every game or anything like that. However, I do support our team, the Cubs.

I was visiting a friend, walking the neighborhood and stopped in my tracks when I saw this tree. How clever. This art creation of a Cubs fan took effort. It’s so funny, looks like an older man. Profiling here, tall and a bit chubby, holding a beer, maybe with shirt too tight? We have to go older since the hat looks vintage.

Looking at the hat. What is that to the left of the “C?” Is it meant to be a drawing of a player with helmet on, bat in hand?

Maybe that hat is the colors of the Cubs, but it’s not an old Cubs hat. Any Cubs experts out there or OLD ENOUGH to know logo changes, LOL.

What do you think?

A book, some Baci and the ocean… What could be better?

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Recently, I was in the San Francisco area. I was by the ocean, went into a very small book store. Small bookstores are wonderful, they have a more interesting choice of books. Usually, many local authors, which I like.

As I went to purchase The Cat Who Saved Books, they had the Italian Baci candies at the check out. What a treat! I haven’t had them for so long. I thought it was a lovely idea to buy a book, a few Baci chocolates, then head to the ocean and start reading. I bought three!

This story sounded interesting about a boy who is depressed when his grandfather dies. He meets a talking cat and goes on quests to “save books.” I was curious about the talking cat and saving books, how/where and what kind?

I’m at the beginning stages of reading this book, so no book review yet. Summer is coming, I think this will end up in the beach bag for summer reading. Life is so busy right now, no time to read.

What small bookstore have you found lately? We do need to support them, I try!

Gardening… The Artichoke!

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I just wrote a lovely post about this beautiful artichoke. Guess what – WP crashed, post GONE! For some reason, the “save draft” wasn’t working well. Early morning tech issues OR the Universe wasn’t keen on the post I had written, wanted me to START OVER! LOL

So, as my creative thought process has now disappeared, I will say… I was in California this past weekend. I went to Half Moon Bay by the ocean. It was wonderful to smell the fishy salty air and hear the fog horn. I used to go there a lot.

While walking on Main Street, I came across a gardening center and saw these artichokes. I don’t eat them much and always wondered how they grew. Now, I know. Seeing them makes me want to give them another try. I was reading that they are a good source of fiber.

Any artichoke lovers out there? What tips do you have to share on peeling / cooking them?