A Curious Mind

My new co-blogger pal, Marie, was tagged with this, i was reading her post and decided to answer the questions as well! Here are my answers....

Question# 1: When did you start blogging and why?
I first started blogging early year 2007 around February thru this blog originally called DolphinSTATE just recently renamed this November 2007 as HonestlyFRESH. I didnt make a lot of entry in between those months when I got busy for awhile, but recently managed to make few more blogs: Gardeners Land, So Cool Source, Fifty States TRAVEL, doingE, JAZEVOX in the past two months. One of the reason why I decided to blog was because I been working with computers since I graduated from college and worked as computer artists/graphics. A big portion of my life has to do with computer, starting when I in enrolled a computer course in college, since then computer became a part of what I do basically. Being online a lot of times, I discovered lots of blogs online and see people blogging including companies so I decided to give it a try out of curiosity and be a part of the new technology (blogging). I have some interests, and decided to blog about them. I also like photography and thought it might be good to share in my blogs as well. So thats how i started blogging...

Question# 2: What do you address your spouse as endearment and why?
My husband and I call each other bunny or bunbuns because its cute and sweet!

Now, here is Question # 3: Who's Blog do you admire most & why?
The first few blogs I frequently visited when I was new in blogging early 2007 are the followings: MeltingWok and New York City Daily Photo. They are still among my favorite blogs because i like Asian foods and the photographies and recipes are well-presented (thats why MeltingWok) and i would like to visit NY someday and see the place in actual and this blog is all about NY (thats why NYCityDailyPhoto) .

If anyone of you would like to answer the questions above, please feel to answer and let me know as well so I can check them out in your blog! Have fun!

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From dolphinSTATE to honestlyFRESH !!!

Hi everyone! Just in case you are wondering, the new name for this blog is now honestlyFRESH (formerly called DolphinSTATE). Same author, me (Jazevox from CA). The only main reason for the name change is that the name dolphinSTATE generally confused a lot of the blog readers. Others thought that the blog is all about dolphins, but the only thing remotely close to the name is my love and admiration for dolphins, and none of my topics was about dolphins. Because of that, I come up with a new name for this blog, HonestlyFRESH.

I hope you stick around and find interesting stuff in my blog! Currently, this blog is accessible as http://honestlyFRESH.blogspot.com

Have a pleasant day and dont forget to check out my other blogs as well. Please feel free to leave feedbacks or comments in any of the postings.

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My other blogs are now operational

I been busy these past few weeks working on my other blogs and try to separate my topics accordingly and hopefully made it more refined than topsy-turvy. Please feel free to check out my other (NEW) blogs:

FiftyStatesTRAVEL - exploring the fifty states of the United States

GardenersLand - gardening, planting, landscaping and outdoor lifestyle

SoCoolSource - sharing cool stuff we found online, can be a site, a product, anything goes!

JAZEVOX Blog - fashion sense, latest trends, clothings, whats new, whats hot, styles, and more

This blog, my first ever blog, will remain operational of course. So I hope that you will be checkout out my other blogs and come back here as well!

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Yellow Mexican Hat Coneflower Flower

I took this photo of Yellow Mexican Hat Coneflower from our yard this summer of 2007. They blooms by the dozen, so they look really nice and noticable in group.

I guess one of the reason why they call this flower Mexican Hat is because it really looks like one, dont you think so to?

These flowers do have skinny delicate stems so watering them too much will cause the plants to bow down, until the sun dries them up and usually they go stand up again.

I think they would be great as accents or touched for floral arrangements. I think Mexican Hat Coneflower would look great with white daisies with yellow pollen in a base!

Thanks for dropping by and dont forget to enjoy the summer outside before the leaves start falling and before you know it, it is already Fall!

Have a nice day to all!

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Dual tulips stand stronger

One of the many reasons why I love springtime is because our yard awaits many different types of flower plants that we planted all these years. One of the short time bloomers are the tulips, usually our tulips here in California only blooms around the month of March to April. And during these blooming season, our flower garden transforms into a very colorful display of beautiful flowers. We planted different variety of tulips, some miniature some long-stemmed. We have wide variety of solid colors and some combo or mixed colors, like the one shown in the photo (white and hot pink). When I found this batch of tulip in our yard, I cannot help but take a snapnot of it as is. Both tulips were leaning side by side against each other, standing straighter and taller compare to the others, that started to bow down to the ground because stem cannot support the heavy weight of the flowers.

Lesson learn from the photographs:
The photo shows that if you feel you have some weaknesses and hindrances as an individual, do not be afraid to look for strength and support from people you can trust that can help you stand stronger and straighter.

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Strawberry Shortcake Once Again!

Hello all! Its that time of year again. Strawberries are popping out like popcorns all over the grocery stores, sometimes buy one get one per package. Who can say no to these yummers? No joke, this is our fourth or fifth batch of Strawberry Shortcake this year! Never tried doing it yourself before? Its really very easy to prepare. We usually use either a shortcake, angel cake or chiffon cake. Then for the topping, I highly recommend Kraft Cool Whip, which you can usually find in the frozen foods section of most groceries, sometimes next to icecreams and sour creams display...You can either sliced or diced the strawberries, and sprinkle some white sugar if the strawberries doesnt taste sweet like they normally should. Many strawberries in the commercialized groceries really taste blah nowadays, but the good thing is, sugar is there for the rescue! Or stop by at an organic farm or farmers market where there are bound to be better tasting strawberries around...When it comes to preparing the strawberries, I used to slice them, but just last week, my bunny was helping me prepare everything and he started dicing them instead, and i kinda like the idea because its easier to eat.

Once you got all the ingredients ready and prep, just spread a layer of coolwhip in the cake, then topped with first layer of diced strawberry, then spread another layer of coolwhip and top second layer of strawberry, then spread last layer of cool whip on top! Viola, your done! Ready to eat.

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Dogs that attack

Dogs that attack humans have a very strong possibility of being mistreated, improperly trained by their owners or by people around them. Dogs are known to be mans bestfriend, so if certain dog attack human being, chances are there are a traceable cause of his undesirable behaviour. Although, dogs attacking humans are very unfortunate encounter and contradicts widely of the phrase that dogs are mans bestfriend, it would be best to give the dog a second chance in life by turning him over a professional trainer. If you own the dog that attacked a human, dont take chances, turn him over to a professional trainer right away and see if there are still ways that such dog will change behaviour. If you dont know how to professionally handle these severe dog behaviour, trust your instint and let the professional do their job. Like humans, dog can change, they can learn with proper training and proper treatment. Originally, in life, to err is human to forgive is divine. Just as we give second chances to people who hurt us, its fitting that we should give dogs that attack humans second chances. I would not recommend doing the second chance training yourself, specially that you are not trained to handle such severe cases because it might do more damage than good, so it is best to let the professionals do it. Professionals dog trainer after thorough training and observation, they will most likely be able to determine whether an attacking dog is treatable or not, so putting down an attacking dog is more like a case to case basis in each attacking dog if such dog should be put down or not, depends on his chances to change or not change for the better.

What about you? What do you think should be the RIGHT and FAIR thing to do for dogs that attack humans?

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Is adopting a dog right for you?

There is fun, joy and happiness in adopting a puppy but before you do, please evaluate your present situation if having a puppy is right for you or not. Having a puppy requires great responsibility and attention, so be sure to fully evaluate yourself if having a puppy is what you need:

Study your living environment. Do you live in a space constraint condo or hotel or a house? A house with a fenced yard might be the best place to a furry friend, condo and hotel will also be a great home for your dog if you can provide him a comfortable place for him to sleep, play and roam around. Like humans, dog have personal neccessities, so make sure that there are places where your dog can legally pee and poo. Most cities have rules and regulations about dogs, so make sure to do some research first.

Having a dog, or puppy requires your financial budget. To properly take care of having a dog, you will have the responsibility of providing the dog his food, shelter, heartworm pills, treats, visit with the veterinary clinics, and more. Do you have extra money to accomodate a dog needs that requires a portion of your monthly income?

Do you have time to take care, play and train your dog? Are you always at home or are you a busy professional that is always out and go home late at night? Because your dog will need your time to play and will need your attention and love. If you are busy and hardly have time to be able to play with your dogs, it would not be a healthy lifestyle for your dog to be alone, lock-up all day in the room while you go to work on the day, party all night, and just spend sleeping time with the dog. Dogs will require time go outside and play, run and walk. So if you think you cannot give your time for these activities, having a puppy or a dog might not be what you need.

There are several breeds of dogs available. Evaluate your reason for having a dog. Do you plan to tag along your dogs in all your travels? You might consider having smaller type of dog because it would be easier to carry them all over. Do you plan to have a puppy to be a guard dog later on? You might consider adopting dogs with strong, intimadating, and tough personalities like german dogs. Do you want puppy or dog as playmate for your kid(s)? Try more playful and not so aggressive, not known as fighting breed dogs. Knowing your reason why you want a dog, will liekly help you determine which breed of dog you want to adopt.
After all the evaluations above, and you think you are ready to adopt a dog, then be ready to recieve unconditional love!

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