Events

Sophie’s here!

Exactly one week ago at this very hour, our daughter Sophie was born into this great big world of ours. We’re so thrilled to have her. She’s a joy to behold and a joy to be with: peaceful and lovely, an enchanting little angel. We were a couple before and now we’re a family. And I’m a daddy, which is a notion that still floors me.

The best part is that Ligia and I both wanted a daughter. To make it even more interesting, we kept the gender a secret from ourselves till the very climactic end, when the midwife set the freshly born Sophie on Ligia’s chest and we learned that our wish had been granted.

Exercise

My Wonder Smoothie Recipe

Those of you who’ve only followed my website for a few years or less may not know it from the current content, but the very first set of articles I wrote online were about exercise and bodybuilding, back in 2001. Go ahead, browse through my archives to see what I mean.

Given that I’ve started bodybuilding once more in recent months, it’s only fitting I write about it again, this time to share my Wonder Smoothie recipe. It’s what I use to recover from my workouts and build muscle. The best part of this smoothie is that it uses raw food ingredients, so anyone can drink it, whether they’re raw foodists like me, or vegans, vegetarians and meat eaters.

That’s right, you may not think raw food and bodybuilding go together but they do. Since I’ve started bodybuilding again, I’ve been amazed with my progress and ability to put on lean muscle in just a few months, while on a 60-80% raw food diet (and some cooked vegan food). I’m going to share my special list of superfoods and ingredients with you below, and I hope my Wonder Smoothie will benefit you as much as it has benefitted me.

Muscle Building and Workout Recovery Smoothie:

Chlorella: 1 tsp
Spirulina: 1 tsp
Mesquite: 1 tsp
Gynostemma: 1/2 tsp
Baobab: 1/2 tsp
Suma Root: 1/2 tsp
Triphala: 1/2 tsp
Rose Hip: 1/2 tsp
Methylsulfonylmethane: 1/2 tsp
Coconut Butter: 1 tsp
Hemp Seeds: 1-2 tbsp
Sesame Seeds: 2-3 tbsp
Alkaline Water: as needed
Raw Honey: as needed
Raw Protein: 11/2-2 scoops

The instructions are simple: blend the sesame and hemp seeds with water and honey first to get the raw milk. Then add in the rest of the ingredients and blend the whole thing again to a typical smoothie texture.

And here’s what I look like these days…

Places

A walk in the forest

I took these photos about 5½ years ago on a walk at the Audubon Naturalist Society in Chevy Chase, MD. They have such lovely fall foliage in their forest. As I edited the photos for the website, it brought back some fond memories of some of my first years together with my lovely wife. This year is our 10-year anniversary and we’re going to have a baby. The good times go by so fast, don’t they? 🙂

A Guide To A Good Life

Cold weather clothing

I thought I’d do something a little bit different for this topic and publish photos of some of my cold weather clothes. I want to give you some ideas of what to look for in materials and what you can combine in terms of color and texture.

Warm weather may be on the way but now is the time to pick the fabrics out of which you’d like to make your next cold season’s clothes. Chances are it’ll be discounted because they’re making way for the thinner fabrics of summer and besides, you want to take your time and really look around. You should look for the best quality cloth at the best price for your budget. You should only buy fabrics that you’d love to wear. There’s no reason to invest in fabric that you’re not sure about, only to invest even more money and effort afterward in order to make it into a suit and then, as you stand in front of the mirror, come to the realization that you don’t really like it.

Buy only what you fall in love with, find a great tailor, make it into a suit that you’ll love, and that way you’ll ensure that you’ve got an outfit you can wear for years to come, one that will make you feel good every time you put it on.

All of my cold weather outfits feature thick wool fabrics, just like these. I love to look for interesting colors and textures. Underneath, I love to wear thick cotton shirts, sometimes with a white cotton t-shirt underneath the shirt, for extra warmth. And I like to wear a tie, not necessarily to make the outfit more formal, and this is a little secret… I do it because it keeps me warmer. The tie causes the shirt collar to close up tightly around my neck, keeping the warmth generated by my body inside the shirt. And the tie acts as a sort of scarf, wrapped around the base of my neck and draped down my chest. It really works, it keeps me warmer in winter. Try it for yourselves and you’ll see what I mean.

Events

A late winter snowstorm

One thing about winters is they don’t like to leave. Just when you think they’re packing to go back north, they settle back down for at least a few more days. And they’re not shy about it, either. They’ll let loose and bring on a bonafide winter storm.

This particular one happened just about six years ago. The set of pictures you’re about to see were taken in Grosvenor Park and Cabin John Park, MD, and in Tyson’s Corner, McLean, VA.

Things can start out picturesque in the morning…