In 1875, the Red Line trolley ran from Los Angeles to the Santa Monica Pier.  The city of Santa Monica was officially founded that year as well, but its roots stretch back another hundred years when the Spanish first camped near what one day would become Wilshire Boulevard.  Along that trolley line, there was a stop named Bergamot Station, named after a type of mint flower that grew in the area.  In 1953, the trolleys stopped running, and the station’s warehouses were given over to a celery packing operation.  Over the years, place kept transforming, from celery packing to ice-making plant, even to a company that made water heaters.  The city of Santa Monica considered making the place into a station stop again, but when the plans for light rail were halted, the place sat empty.  Eventually, though, Bergamot Station found a new life, and its name is now synonymous with one of the more interesting art galleries and cafes in Santa Monica.

This complex of galleries was officially opened in September of 1994, sixteen years ago, and is now a destination point for travelers both nationally and internationally.  If you’ve come to stay in a Santa Monica hotel and wish to spend a day seeing art, the Bergamot Station is an ideal choice.  For years, this site seemed to be a well kept secret, one of the pleasure you might find when driving around Santa Monica, but the secret has leaked out, and the station now sees perhaps six hundred thousand visitors in a year.  It’s the largest art gallery complex in Southern California, taking up eight acres, which contains not only contemporary art galleries, but architecture and design firms, a frame shop, and the Santa Monica Museum of Art.  It also has a terrific little Gallery Cafe, perfect to stop in, have lunch, and see any one of thirty plus galleries.  While closed on Sundays, the cafe is open from nine to four (Monday), nine to five (Tuesday through Friday) and ten to five (Saturday).  The cafe address is the same as the station: 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90404.

Culture is a lot like art.  Once you start looking into it, there’s really no end to the fascination, and the more you know, the more the fascination grows.  This is one reason why Singapore is such a spectacular place to visit.  There are many ethnic cultures that make up the population, with the majority being Chinese, with some Indian and Malay influences.  There are many other cultures living here, as well as different influences, from Japan to Italy, to pretty much anywhere in the world.  This makes it a fascinating place in its own rite, and looking at the complex histories that bring these people together is worthy of a lifetime of study.  But there are also many cultures within, beneath, and outside of these cultures, and they shape contemporary Singapore society as much as any.

The urban population is very savvy, and certainly trend-setting, where a lot of modern fashion and design come from Singapore.  There is also a wonderful food culture here, with plenty of ethnic restaurants, vegetarian restaurants, and hosts of others, representing various kinds of cuisine, and starting off an evening in your favorite new place is a great way to get started in your explorations of Singapore.  You might notice that there are some spectacular fashion senses in the clubs and in the streets, and one of the most interesting new trends is Lolita fashion.

This is the style where young people, generally women, wear Victorian-style dresses, with very unique and individual modifications and accessories.  Some theorize that it comes from Nabokov’s novel, but it’s really a reference to another era altogether, and the intention is to dress cute, and to resemble the pale porcelain dolls from the same era.  But it’s much less about historical reference than it is a modern descendent of punk.  Many of the styles incorporate the iconic punk rock colors of red, white, and black, and some of the trends in Lolita go straight into goth.  There are some young men who dress in Lolita style, too, sometimes specifically referenced as Oujisama.  It originated in Japan, and it’s becoming very fashionable in the rest of the world, too, with groups as far away as the U.S. who are devoted fans of Lolita style.

You looked through the wood stove for sale adds and found your new heating treasure and its time to play some games with you buddy. What game are you going to choose? There are plenty of captivating games to choose from. There is always Chess or Cards that can be played with just two. How about dice. Farkle is a great dice game that can be played with two people. They say you can play with three or more players, but, I think it is really more fun with just two people. Anymore than that and the game slows down a lot. Yeah, this game should with some speed. You know, Las Vegas style.

Chess is a true classic of real thought and strategy. You have your place pieces and white pieces with each player picking a color. Then there is the checkered board to make the moves on. After the pieces are on the board the player with the white pieces goes first. Each player gets one move at a time, shifting their piece from square to square. The square needs to be empty or contain an opponents piece that can be taken off and put to the side. The game goes on with more strategy it is important to know each of the six pieces and which way it can move. The point is to capture the opponents King.

Cards are also a fun game to play. There are many kinds of card games however Cribbage and Gin seem to be the most known in the states. These two games can be played with more than two players but are really fun with only two. Gin is played with just a deck of cards. It has a lot of things going on and keeps the mind involved. It is a fun action card game. Cribbage needs a Cribbage board to keep score with. It is the board that makes Cribbage Cribbage.

There are many wonderful neighborhoods in the city of Vancouver, and working with the team at TransGlobe Property Management you will be certain of finding just the right one for you.  The rich cultural diversity will allow you to experience the flavors and the markets of the various ethnic groups who now make Vancouver their home.  One of the best markets is located on Granville Island.  This is one area that truly does seem to have it all, from artists’ studios and craft booths, to fairs and the farmers market.

This area was built up almost thirty years ago when the Canadian government began the plan for urban renewal.  This was once just an industrial area, but now there are many theatres, restaurants, bookstores, hotels and an art school.  This is a neighborhood that is generally always filled with people, so if being out and about with a lot of artists and musicians, this is the place for you.  Another fine location is downtown, close to the Punjabi Market Place.  Almost all of the businesses either privately owned or managed by TransGlobe Property Management, offer up anything and everything from India that you could possibly hope to find.

There are many food stalls that serve incredible dishes throughout the day, and the scents of this area are spice filled and exotic.  There are many stalls in which to purchase authentic saris, or discounted materials and textiles.  For those looking for the fashionable colors and clothing, jewelry and scarves, this is the place to be.   Finding things to do in Vancouver for the most part means just walking along the charming city streets.  The entire city is dotted with such markets and such pockets to find art and music and live shows.  Whichever neighborhood you decide upon will offer up the best of the country, and will provide you with a great place to call “Home Sweet Home”.

Throughout the history of human beings, people have gather around the hearth.  They have sat with family members and friends, sharing stories or cooking the catch of the day.  I saw the pre-historic evidence of this when I took a pollen analysis class in the Anthropology department at Arizona State University.  We gathered dirt from a location that was being developed in downtown Phoenix.  We brought the samples back to the lab, soaked them in acid, spun them in a centrifuge and then made slides.  What we were looking for, was a glimpse into what the people had been cooking, through the pollen that was contained in the samples.  We found corn, of course, squash, and watermelon pollen, all found in the fire-pit that was in the middle of the archaeological dig.

Now, fireplaces have changed.  There are ones designed in a very modern style, or those that are old fashioned and traditional, with fireplace accessories and fancy equipment, but the fact remains, people still gather around the hearth with family and friends, telling stories…making memories, popping popcorn and roasting marshmallows.  The fireplace can be the focal point of any room, creating the warmth not only from the flame, but in the ambiance it will provide.  The right accessories will ensure that your creative masterpiece will be not only well enjoyed, but well loved.

Function combined with beauty, as in the grates, can be expressed in a very artistic manner.  The grates provide protection from sparks and snaps of the wood, all the while providing elegant design elements to your home.  Something so simple as a ceramic vase to hole your fireplace matches will too, add one more element of charm, charm that is mixed with functionality.  So create this feeling, the feeling of humans throughout history, in your own home.  The fireplace and the accessories will be evidence, that you do enjoy life to the fullest, and also enjoy relaxing to the fullest.  You will become part of a very long line, of those who have warmed their hands in front of the fire throughout the ages.

The city of Boston is one of the most important cities to the founding of the United States. In was once the most influential city until the country began to grow. This is were the wealth and founding fathers started it all. When visitors go to this city they can find a plethora of history and a great Boston hotel to plan their day trips from. This port city its peninsula was once called Trimountaine for the three peninsulas that it used to have. Two of them have been were leveled only one peninsula, Beacon Hill, still remains as an major feature to the city.

The first Bostonian was William Blaxton. He lived alone from 1625 until more settlers came in 1630 and bought land from Blaxton to start the water supplies and the settlement. They were mostly Puritans and of course they still had allegiance to the King. The Cambridge Agreement made this city self governing but still answering to the King. That is were John Winthrop came in to become the first governor of the settlement for the King. It is amazing to learn the many details of the earliest times of Boston because the key players are all intertwined by friendship, family and marriage. They want on to fight over the lands and the rights to govern as well as who is invited to stay or asked to leave.

The name Boston was given on September 7th in 1630. It was named after a town named Boston in the Lincolnshire of England. There were several influential colonists who came from there so they wanted to recreate it here. This area was also known as the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This city was believed to be a community of people that had a special covenant with God. Every thing was built and run around the Word of God. The values created a very stable and structured society which was base in of course moral righteousness, hard work and strong education. The first school in America was the Boston Latin School built in 1635. The first college in America was also built in this city in 1636, Harvard College, which of course is still the cream of the crop today.

It’s probably true that time equals money, that this age old saying has more truth today than it ever did before.  Where the rules are very different now, and the competition is fierce, it’s essential to make the best use of time, whenever and wherever possible.  Working smarter is always preferable to working harder, and it saves everybody time, that makes everyone happy. But it’s also true that the important things in life take time, and some of the time spent can’t be factored in with any easy formula, because some things take as much time as they take, and it’s simply that.  This is very much the case when entering into the field of customer service, where the formulas don’t always work out, and there is a human element that comes into play, throwing off any easy scientific or mathematical equations.

This is something that Steven Barbarich is surely well aware of, since his life has been devoted to working with customers.  He has also spend a significant amount of time inventing, and that, coupled with being a CEO, means that scientific formulas, and the close attention to numbers, have to go into the operations in order to run a successful business.  But it also means that there has to be a good deal of flexibility as well, especially when it comes to time.

When you’re dealing with the public, and working with customers directly, as he often is, you start to realize how much important it is to give people the time that they need.  And everyone is different, where some people can do their shopping very quickly, and like to be matter-of-fact about it, and others like to investigate, exploring things from every angle so they can make an informed decision.  Giving people the time they need is one way to make customers understand how valuable they are, and that’s a human touch that is also very good business sense.

It’s been almost one month in Amsterdam, but it feels like three months. The days go by too quick here, and yet I’ve learned much and have seen so many things every single day. 15 hours of being awake feels like a week. Am I repeating myself?

I’m happy floating from one event to the next event, going to the club where Mom’s a DJ, or stop and be still as everything moves around me and I appreciate that fact. Life always happens when you are making plans, as John Lennon said so well. You can never be fully prepared for what life hands you, and every single morning, when you wake and take a breath, make a conscious decision to either live life authentically and passionately or you can relish in the day to day activities without ever using your brain or your heart. I hope I never grow so tired or apathetic that I begin to choose the latter, whether it’s a mindful decision or not. I’m pontificating…cest la vie.

My Grandma passed away and that hit me really hard. The irony of it is that only a few months ago, I was pouring myself into this course called ‘Death and Dying’ and I spent my 23rd birthday at a funeral home. I was doing a group interview with the funeral director. I even wrote a sermon on Grief and planned my own funeral. I wrote papers on what to say to someone who had just lost someone close to them, and after my Grandma died, those sayings seemed hollow. But my last days with her before coming here to Amsterdam were wonderful. Irony, right?  It still was a good lesson anyway.

I was emailing with a friend who’s in his second year of seminary and he asked me if I could recommend one of the five star Amsterdam hotels as he plans to come by and visit me. I told him he can stay with Mom and me, but he preferred a hotel room. His mother just died 6 months ago, so we’ve felt simpatico with each other ever since. I miss Grandma.